


Dance the Tide

by shadeshifter



Series: Altering Destiny [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), NCIS
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-25
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2017-11-26 21:24:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/654556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadeshifter/pseuds/shadeshifter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony finds a missing girl only to get caught up in a case that leads straight to the DC office and team!Gibbs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Same as with my other series. Posted provisionally. I've hit a rut and need some inspiration.

“Too many times we stand aside and let the waters slip away, till what we put off till tomorrow has now become today. So don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied. Choose to chance the rapids and dare to dance the tide.”

 

Steve waded out of the water several meters ahead of Tony and turned to wait for the other man, superior grin on his face. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony scoffed, a little out of breath, when he waded out after him. The plague hadn’t done any favours to his lung capacity, but he doubted he’d be able to keep up with Steve even without that hindrance. 

“Come on, old man, daylight’s wasting.”

“I think this barely qualifies as dawn,” Tony said as he moved into Steve’s space, arm wrapping around his waist and pulling him close. “And I’m not old,” he added belatedly.

It had become part of Tony’s morning ritual to swim with Steve, though not all the way. His preferred method of eluding his demons was to run, not swim, so he matched Steve’s swim to the end of the beach with a run and joined him for the swim back. He thought that despite being ten years older than when he’d joined NCIS, he might actually be fitter now than he was at the peak of his career.

“How long before you have to be at the office?” Tony asked, sliding a hand up the warm, wet skin of Steve’s back.

“You ask that every morning,” Steve told him, darkening eyes belying his nonchalance.

“And then you say?” Tony asked, fingers of his other hand teasing at the band of Steve’s swim shorts.

“Long enough.”

“Good man,” Tony said, capturing Steve’s mouth in a kiss.

“No urgent cases?” Steve asked when they paused for breath. Urgent cases for either of them meant they might not see each other for days. Tony had taken up a job as a P.I., and if he sometimes hummed the Magnum theme tune when he was alone in his car, he’d never tell anyone. It was mostly fairly straightforward stuff, with the occasional foray into tracking down bail jumpers when he could get Steve as backup, but it kept him busy. His trust fund, some inheritance, and some good investments meant he didn’t really have to work if he was careful, and his past experience meant he was less inclined to trust those he worked with, so private investigation seemed like the best option.

“Nothing yet,” Tony said, going in for another kiss, slow and languid. They were interrupted by the piercing tone of a phone ringing. Tony rested his forehead on Steve’s shoulder and huffed out a frustrated breath. “You jinxed us, you totally jinxed us.”

“Sorry,” Steve said with contrition, though still clearly amused. Tony picked up his towel and went inside. Steve took a moment before following him.

“I’ll be there in half an hour,” Tony said into his phone, expression grave.

“Sounds bad,” Steve said. He rubbed absently at his hair to dry it.

“Seventeen-year-old girl’s missing. Police want to wait a little, see if she shows up at any friends before they take it further.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

Tony smiled and pressed a quick kiss to Steve’s lips.

“Always.”

-

Gibbs slammed his hand into the wall in frustration. It was the third empty warehouse in as many weeks and they had no more leads. Drugs were being trafficked through his turf and he had no clue how to stop it. 

McGee had flagged a number of personnel files of those they suspected as the inside man since someone in NCIS had to be revealing the information to the smugglers, but he wasn’t able to get any further than that. There was no one for Ziva to threaten and Gibbs’s gut refused to talk. 

He had a feeling that if Tony had been there he would have charmed the information out of someone, or had a contact he could tap for information, or a movie to which he could compare the situation. Somehow, Tony would have found a lead. 

Gibbs wasn’t given to being overly sentimental, but he knew the team just hadn’t been the same since Tony left. Since Gibbs had driven him away. There weren’t many things he regretted, but Tony was one of them. He hadn’t dealt with him fairly at all. He could admit at least that much to himself. 

“Boss?” McGee said a little timidly. Even he hadn’t been the same since Tony left. Without Tony as a buffer, McGee and Ziva were experiencing the brunt of his anger for perhaps the first time and they hadn’t exactly thrived under the pressure. Or the increased work load. Some petty, vindictive part, a part that wanted them as wounded as he was, was glad that they had trouble handling the extra work that Tony used to do.

“What McGee?” Gibbs demanded. 

“Ah, what should we do now?”

“What do you think, McGee?”

McGee looked at him wide-eyed. Perhaps the most annoying thing was that they all seemed to have forgotten how to anticipate him. 

“I’ll get right on... something, Boss,” McGee said, “the personnel files.”

“I’ll assist you,” Ziva added and followed McGee out of the building. 

He wanted Tony back, wanted to not have been an asshole, wanted the team to be good again. All that anger and regret though, it was mixed up in the fact that he hated Tony too. Hated Tony for putting him in this situation. But most of all, he hated himself for driving away the best agent he’d ever trained.

-

Tony moved through the warehouse, slowly and quietly. He gritted his teeth at the sound of a girl crying, but forced himself not to move faster, not to burst in there and just shoot the guy. There was a small office at the back of the mostly empty building with the lights on. Tony paused as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Keeping an eye on the warehouse and his gun ready, he pulled it from his pocket and answered the call.

“Backup’s almost there,” Steve told him. “Five minutes out.”

“I can’t wait that long,” Tony said, wincing at the sound of a man yelling. Steve was silent for a long moment.

“Be careful.”

“I’m always careful,” Tony said. 

“Yeah, and I’m always sensible,” Steve said. Tony fought a smile as he ended the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. He began to move forward, confident in the knowledge that Steve had his back as best he could. 

He paused outside the open door, back flat against the wall, as he peered slowly into the room. The girl he’d been hired to find, Katie, lay tied on the floor. Tony could see the shadow of a man on the wall above her. He breathed in deeply and exhaled, readying himself, before he ducked into the room, gun raised. 

“The police will be here soon. I recommend you give yourself up,” Tony said. The other man spun around, gun raised, and Tony shot twice, in quick succession. The man fell to the ground, gun skittering away. Tony edged closer to him, kicking the gun further away. He knelt down, gun firmly trained on the man, as he checked his pulse. Relief and regret flowed through him in equal measure when he found no pulse. He holstered his gun and moved over to the girl’s side. She flinched away from him and Tony could see a bruise darkening her cheek.

“Hey Katie,” he said softly. “Your mother hired me to find you. Everything’s going to be okay now.” He slowly reached for the knife hidden in his belt and cut the tie binding her hands. She immediately pulled herself into a sitting position and rubbed at her wrists. “The police will be here in a few minutes, then you’ll get to go home.”

She smiled a little tremulously and Tony reached out a hand to her.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go wait outside in the fresh air.”

“Thank you,” she said earnestly, grabbing his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. “He said he was going to sell me.”

“Never going to happen,” he assured her. 

-

McGee sat at his desk with a sigh and powered up his computer. McGee studiously avoided looking at the, once again, empty desk in the corner. It had seen several replacements over the last year, but none had stayed more than several weeks. One hadn’t even made it two full days. 

“Gibbs is going for coffee,” Ziva told him as she came to stand at his desk. McGee nodded. They’d have a few minutes to gather themselves before he returned. Maybe track down a lead so the rest of the day wouldn’t be entirely awful.

“I didn’t realise,” Ziva began, voice soft and distracted, before she shook her head. There were a million ways she could end that sentence, but they all came back to Tony. 

McGee was so, so very angry with the absent man. Every time he steeled himself for a joke at his expense, every time it was too quiet in the office and he began checking for glue on his keyboard, every time Gibbs blew a fuse and he waited for Tony to step in, he felt his anger (and betrayal) flare anew. Tony had just left one day without more than a surprisingly solemn goodbye. McGee hadn’t wanted to listen to it, thinking it was the setup for another joke, but then Tony was gone and he didn’t know what to think. Neither did Ziva. If Gibbs had any idea, he wasn’t sharing.

And maybe, just maybe, he felt a little guilty, because the job without Tony wasn’t exactly what he thought it would be. It was difficult and tedious, in a way it hadn’t been before, even on the bad days. There was paperwork that usually ended up on his desk because he was technically the senior agent and they were more often without an official senior agent these days. Gibbs refused to promote McGee to the position and there was a part of him that rankled at the lack of faith, especially since DiNozzo had fulfilled the position without issue for a decade, but there was also a part of him that quailed at being given the responsibility. It wasn’t like cybercrimes. People could die based entirely on his decisions.

It was that exact problem that meant he couldn’t reconcile how he felt about Tony. Tony could be an idiot. He made inappropriate jokes and glued McGee fingers to his keyboard. But he had made being responsible for people’s lives look easy. Did that mean that he hadn’t cared? Or that he was just very, very good?

“I know,” he said, because he couldn’t even begin to articulate what he was feeling and didn’t think Ziva could either. They needed Tony to distract them from weighty thoughts or make some comment that would suddenly illuminate the whole situation, which was the whole problem in a nutshell. 

His computer beeped and McGee turned his attention to the problem at hand. The case wasn’t going to solve itself and they weren’t getting anywhere quickly. A few clicks later and McGee was printing out the information.

“Got something?” Ziva asked.

“I just got a hit on one of the files I flagged for suspicious activity. Petty Officer Addison was just killed in Hawaii,” McGee told her with a rare smile, glad that they’d finally caught some sort of lead. He moved the information to the big screen. 

“Murdered?” Ziva asked, her relief equalling his own.

“I’m not sure. Reports are still sketchy. Though it looks like the police are angling for self-defense.”

“Looks like we’re going to Hawaii,” Gibbs said as he swept in, coffee in hand.

“Yes, Boss,” McGee replied as he went to get his go bag. At least they were going somewhere warm.

-

Steve stood as Tony left the conference room where Chin had been taking his statement. Tony looked tired but satisfied and Steve could relate. He might have had to kill a man, but he’d saved a girl from a horrible fate and that counted as a win. Tony smiled at him a little wanly and followed Steve out. Once they were out the door and away from curious eyes, Steve turned and slid a hand along Tony’s neck to cup the back of his head and pull him in close.

“You did good.”

“I know,” Tony said, but it wasn’t arrogance, just calm confidence in his abilities and choices under pressure. “I just don’t think that that’s going to be the end of it.”

“It never is,” Steve agreed. “PD’s got some patrolmen keeping an eye on her in case there were others involved.”

“Good.”

“Come on, let’s go home,” Steve said, dropping his hand to the small of Tony’s back and directing him to the car.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

Steve hid his smile at the fact that Tony hadn’t even argued that the house was home. He’d wait a while though, before springing that insight on the other man. 

Tony climbed into the passenger side without any argument and leaned his head back against the headrest, closing his eyes. Steve moved to the driver’s side, but his phone interrupted him. He pulled it out of his pocket before he settled into the seat.

“McGarrett,” he said as he answered. 

“Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, this is Director Vance of NCIS.”

Steve’s eyebrow rose and he glanced sidelong at Tony.

“How can I help you, Director Vance?” Steve asked. Tony opened his eyes, appearing a lot more alert than he had before. 

“We had a report that Petty Officer James Addison was killed by someone connected to your department.”

“We had a consultant involved in that situation.”

“A consultant?”

“It’s part of an ongoing investigation,” Steve said, hoping to avoid any mention of Tony before it was necessary. He didn’t know exactly what Tony’s issue with his former employers was, but he knew it had cut Tony to the core, and there was no way Steve was going to let it happen again. 

“Commander, I’ve got a team on the way to you. The Governor had guaranteed your co-operation.”

“Of course,” Steve agreed easily. “We’ll extend them every courtesy.”

“See that you do.” Vance hung up.

Steve slid his phone back into his pocket and looked at Tony.

“There’s an NCIS team from DC looking into the case.”

For a moment Tony looked pallid and slightly anxious before he wiped away all expression. 

“Any idea who?”

“No,” Steve admitted before he settled in and started the car. “How about some take out and a night in?”

“Home, Jeeves,” Tony ordered and Steve grinned unreservedly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are still parts of it I'm not happy with, so I might change it, but the inspiration thing worked, so I'm posting the next bit.
> 
> Gibbs refused to be as awful as I wanted.

Gibbs stalked into the Five-0 offices. He wasn’t sure why they were dealing with the case when NCIS had an office in Hawaii. The research McGee had managed to do during the flight indicated that the Five-0 task force had few restrictions and even fewer compunctions with disregarding orders, which Gibbs could appreciate, but which would be very inconvenient if he needed to work with them. A young, Asian woman met him at the entrance.

“Agent Gibbs?”

He nodded.

“The witnesses will be arriving shortly to verify their statements. Chin can catch you up on what we have in the mean time.”

He’d come straight from the airport, without stopping at the hotel, because he hadn’t wanted the Five-0 team to have too much time consolidating their control of the case. McGee and Ziva were double-checking the crime scene.

“Coffee first.”

She pointed to a room with large glass windows that he assumed was the break room. Gibbs stalked off in that direction. He was just stirring his coffee when he caught sight through the glass of more people entering. There was a girl and, behind her with his hand firmly on her shoulder, was Tony. 

Gibbs exhaled slowly, trying to control his reaction. Tony glanced only briefly in her direction before he turned to the girl to murmur what seemed like words of encouragement. The girl seemed to trust him. Gibbs gathered himself and left the break room, knuckles white around the handle of his mug.

“DiNozzo.”

Tony looked up sharply and smiled congenially. It was the expression he used when dealing with the brass, the one that said ‘I can tolerate you, but I don’t have to respect you’. It was like a shot to the gut.

“Gibbs.”

“Come on, sweetheart,” the woman said to the girl, “let’s go see what the vending machine can dredge up for you.” The woman gently led the girl away, which just left Gibbs and Tony.

Gibbs stared intently at him, willing him to divulge what he was thinking. Tony stared right back. Gibbs had no idea what to say that wouldn’t devolve into a shouting match, at least on his end. Tony had always met his anger with calm reason, not something many would expect from him. But Gibbs had never been faced with this Tony, not even that night. 

“Tony,” a man said, coming to stand next to him, “we just need to go over a few of the details that Chin didn’t get last night.”

“As I’m sure you recall, I was quite thorough last night,” Tony said as he turned, playful smirk quirking his mouth in that way Gibbs remembered so well. The other man grinned in response and leaned in close, hand resting casually on Tony’s arm, and lips brushing Tony’s ear as he murmured something too quiet for Gibbs to hear. Whatever it was, it startled a laugh, carefree and honest, from Tony.

“I’ll interview DiNozzo,” Gibbs said, a little more harshly than he intended. 

The other man shifted his posture from comfortable and relaxed to tense and ready for action. Tony nodded at the other man who immediately backed down and nodded back.

“You know,” the other man said quietly to Tony, never removing his eyes from Gibbs. “I’ve still got that rifle.” 

Tony grinned.

“Don’t worry, Steve, it won’t come to that,” Tony said with certainty. Gibbs couldn’t tell if it was faked or not. Tony turned to Gibbs, smile falling away as he indicated further into the building. “Interview room’s this way.”

Gibbs unfurled his white-knuckled fist and followed. When they entered the room, Tony settled himself in the chair on the side with the one-way mirror and Gibbs reluctantly settled himself on the other side.

“DiNozzo,” he started, more softly than before.

“I started my investigation with an interview with Anne Bridges. Her daughter, Katie, had gone missing and her husband, Paul, was reluctant to contact the police. He seemed to think she’d show up at one of her friends,” Tony said, eyes on the wall beyond Gibbs.

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs said a little more sharply.

“Something seemed fishy to me. I think it was the father’s demeanour. It just seemed off. So I looked into him,” Tony continued unrelentingly.

“Tony.”

Tony finally looked at him, but the distant, impersonal expression didn’t change.

“Paul Bridges is into some shady stuff, nothing I managed to uncover in the short time was entirely illegal, but I did manage to connect him to some people who I connected to the warehouse.”

“Tony, I...” Gibbs trailed off, unable to continue.

“You what, Gibbs?” Tony said, finally expressing something other than that awful blankness. 

“What happened?” Gibbs asked. Because he’d thrown a lot at the younger man over the years, more than Tony deserved if Gibbs was honest with himself, but it had never seemed to have more than a fleeting impact on him. At least, it couldn’t have only been him.

“That is what I’ve been telling you.” Tony folded his arms across his chest, looking implacable.  
“With the team,” Gibbs said, not letting Tony divert the conversation.

“You’re unbelievable, you know that,” Tony said, standing.

Gibbs rose with him, leaning heavily on the table.

“The team hasn’t been the same,” he said as a peace offering. It didn’t work if the anger that flashed across Tony’s face was any indication.

“Good,” Tony snapped. He sighed and shook his head. “I need to talk to Chin about the files I discovered.”

Gibbs watched him leave and, for the second time, was powerless to stop him.

-

Steve glanced up as Tony appeared in his doorway. He trusted Tony, but he wasn’t sure what he thought about Gibbs. He certainly didn’t like what he knew so far, if only because of the impact he’d had on Tony. Tony leaned casually against the doorframe and crossed his arms, looking every bit the playboy he pretended to be.

“Hey,” Tony said with a smile. Something comfortable settled over Steve, as it did every time Tony smiled at him like that, like he was content and Steve had everything to do with that. He smiled back.

“How are you doing?”

Tony frowned briefly before he shook his head.

“I need to talk to Chin about looking at some files.” It was an obvious diversion but Steve didn’t push. Tony dealt with things in his own time.

“We could just give you your own access,” Steve told him. He didn’t offer Tony a place on the team again, not now with his history so close to the surface and not after the heartache that had shadowed his eyes the first time. There was give and take between Tony and the team, favours for favours, though no one was really keeping track. They called Tony a consultant, but they still counted him as one of their own and he got whatever independence he needed. 

“I’m sure the Governor would just love that.”

Steve grinned a little maniacally.

“You let me worry about that.”

“Somehow I don’t think you’d be the one worrying.”

“I’ve never really been one for worrying. Doesn’t seem to solve anything.”

“I think there’s a steak dinner somewhere in there for Danny.” Steve grinned unrepentantly. “You are an awful man,” Tony added, shaking his head.

“I thought that’s what you love about me.”

Tony’s grin turned sly. 

“It does have benefits in certain areas.” 

Steve wasn’t a guy that needed a lot of words, so he knew how Tony felt, even when Tony couldn’t say the words. It was enough, for now, that Tony could accept the assertion.

“Oh dear god, I thought we agreed not in the office,” Danny said loudly from where he and Chin were standing.

“Tony says we owe you a steak dinner,” Steve told him quickly, hoping to stave off a rant. 

“Oh,” Danny said, his ruffled feathers smoothed over, “that’s alright then.”

“I’ll go shopping this afternoon,” Tony told Steve, smirk hidden carefully from Danny. Steve nodded. 

“Chin,” Tony said, turning to the other man, “just the man I was looking for.” Chin raised an eyebrow at him. “I was hoping you’d give me a hand looking up some files.”

“Sure. I was planning to follow up on that now,” Chin said. 

“Great. We still on for sparring this weekend?”

“Sure thing, brah.”

Steve felt ridiculously happy at his family getting on so well together. Tony was teaching Chin all the underhanded fighting techniques he’d picked up over the years, even Steve was impressed at the breadth of his knowledge, and Chin was teaching him how to find his way around computers. He was doing really well with the touch screens. Chin said he thought it had something to do with actually being able to participate and interact with what he was doing.

“You should try sparring with Steve next,” Tony told him. “He knows more about fighting dirty than anyone I know.”

“I’m sure he does,” Danny muttered. Steve grinned proudly.

-

Tony sighed when saw Gibbs standing by the computers, glaring at the screens. Chin cast a sidelong glance at him, which Tony ignored. He knew they were concerned, but he wasn’t really sure what to tell them. NCIS was his past and, for a while, he had been able to put it to one side, but he didn’t think he’d ever really gotten over it.

“I’ve got the files I gathered on a flash drive,” Tony told Chin, aware of Gibbs’s eyes on him. 

“Let’s see what we’ve got then.”

Chin plugged Tony’s flash drive into the computer and looked over the files that popped up. Tony opened several and arranged them across the screen. 

“This is what I managed to get on Paul Bridges’ financials. There’s nothing overtly illegal there, but there are a number of transactions that just fly beneath the $10 000 threshold.”

Tony then proceeded to lay out the money trail he’d followed, linking Bridges to a number of other men, both in and out of the Navy, until he’d connected them to the warehouse he’d found Katie at. Sometimes, it was useful to be his father’s son. Most of the time he tried not to think about it.

“This is good work,” Chin said and Tony shrugged. He’d only been able to gather it as quickly as he had because of what Chin was teaching him. As much as he counted on the team, he didn’t ever want to be in the situation again where he couldn’t fend for himself if he needed to. “I’ll see what else I can find.”

“Thanks, man.”

“You might want to avoid my cousin,” Chin added with a smirk. “There’s another tournament on this weekend.”

Tony gave an exaggerated shudder.

“I thought I liked sport, I really did,” Tony lamented. “And if it was football or basketball – hell, even soccer or hockey – I’d be fine. But I know way more about the in and outs of surfing than I ever thought I’d need to.”

Chin grinned at him but looked completely unrepentant for his involvement in Kono’s appropriation of Tony’s television.

“I’ll let you know what I find,” Chin told him. 

Tony nodded and went to get some coffee. He hadn’t had all that much sleep the night before. Killing a man, however justified, tended to do that to him. Gibbs fell into to step next to him. Tony tried to ignore him. He couldn’t deal with this now.

“You seem to be doing well here,” Gibbs said. The words were neutral, but the expression was hard and uncompromising. Tony wondered what was going through Gibbs’ mind.

“You seem surprised.”

“You’ve always adapted well.”

Tony wondered why it was always him that had to adapt, that had to recreate himself, over and over again. There were some things he couldn’t, wouldn’t, adapt to.

“So it would seem.”

Gibbs looked at him sidelong, his expression shifting, but what it shifted to Tony couldn’t recognise. Tony didn’t know what to think about this Gibbs. It wasn’t the Gibbs he was used to, not even the scarily nice one that had shown up after Kate’s death. 

“You didn’t have to leave.”

Tony shook his head. Whatever Gibbs this was, he still didn’t know when he’d overstepped the mark, when he’d pushed too far. 

“If you believe that then you have no idea who I am.”

Tony walked away, leaving Gibbs to stare after him.


	3. Chapter 3

McGee breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped into the air-conditioned offices of the Five-0 taskforce. He pulled at his collar, trying to loosen it without actually undoing the top button. He felt hot, sweaty and dishevelled, and the worst of it was he was sure if Tony was there he would be looking immaculate. Ziva certainly was as she walked beside him.

“I call ‘not it’ for telling Gibbs we didn’t find anything,” he told her. The crime scene techs from HPD had done a good job. That didn’t mean they didn’t collect their own samples or take photos. Abby would kill them if she couldn’t verify everything. 

“I think Gibbs has other things on his head,” Ziva said, staring at the Five-0 team. McGee followed her gaze and stopped short, not even bothering to correct her. There was Tony, looking immaculate. He wasn’t wearing a suit, but he still managed to look casual yet professional. In fact, the only other person wearing a suit was a blond man with slicked back hair. 

“Tony,” he said. He couldn’t decide whether to smile or frown and ended up giving the other man an awkward grimace in greeting. Ziva remained silent at his side and he imagined she was just as stunned as he was. 

“McGee, David,” Tony greeted coolly, which seemed to start off a round of introductions that McGee tried to smile and nod at, but his gaze was continually drawn to Tony, who was studiously avoiding looking at him. 

“What have you got,” Gibbs asked, eyes focusing on McGee with an intensity that meant he was having trouble not looking, too. McGee wondered if Gibbs had known Tony was going to be there. Gibbs had seemed to know everything, right up until the moment Tony left. 

“Looks like it went down the way HPD said,” McGee told him. Had Tony been involved, is that why he was here? Was he part of the taskforce, is that where he had gone when he left? McGee had felt betrayed enough that he hadn’t wanted to know where Tony went. Now he wished he’d had the forewarning. “We’ve sent the photos to Abby and we’re about to follow up with the evidence.”

“Why is Tony here?” Ziva asked abruptly and McGee winced at how much harsher it sounded than she must have meant. The Five-0 team didn’t seem to react well to that, but Tony... Tony was the kind of still that meant he was very carefully trying not to react at all.

“I’ve been working the case the longest from this end. I’m the most familiar with it,” was all Tony said, but McGee knew there was so much more to it. 

“Tony,” Ziva said, taking a step toward him. McGee quickly rested a hand on her arm, drawing her to a halt. He knew that now was not a good time to confront the other man, not with so many strangers there. Besides, they needed some sort of plan; otherwise, Tony would just feel cornered and clam up.

“Go deal with the evidence, then I want the list of Paul Bridges’ associates looked into,” Gibbs told them sharply. McGee nodded, relieved that he had an excuse to get out of there. He needed time to work out how he felt and what he actually wanted from Tony. He pulled Ziva with him, glad that she acquiesced, because he liked having all his limbs intact. 

“I’ll show you where we keep everything,” Kono said.

-

Danny watched the two subordinate agents walk away and drew back a little from the crowd. Almost immediately, Steve appeared next to him without Danny even being aware that he’d moved. 

“Something to keep an eye on?” Danny asked. He didn’t know much about Tony’s past, didn’t know much about Tony at all beyond the fact that he was utterly and inexplicably devoted to Steve. Danny couldn’t understand it. As much as he liked Steve, all protestations aside, he couldn’t imagine actually living with him, dealing with the crazy 24/7. He wished Tony luck. This though, this threatened their team and Tony was definitely part of that.

“Yeah,” Steve said, watching Gibbs watch Tony. “Definitely something to keep an eye on.”

“Who are they to him?”

It was obvious Tony had some fairly hefty baggage, but then so did Steve, and who was Danny to begrudge them that, Danny’s wasn’t all that light either, but nothing good had ever come of Steve’s baggage and Danny had the feeling Tony’s wasn’t any better. They really did deserve each other. 

“Old team.”

So, they were the ones who’d done a number on Tony. Danny was surprised Steve hadn’t decked someone yet, or threatened them with sharks. Although, maybe he was building up to a more severe punishment. Maybe Steve wouldn’t mind some help. Danny had an intolerance of cops who screwed over other cops.

“Tony okay?”

Steve shot him a look that told him he was being an idiot and looked over to where Tony was talking quietly with Chin and discussing the files. Despite appearing to be focused on what he was doing, his stance was stiff and he twitched every time Gibbs moved. He did a passable impression of pulled together, but Danny had seen the real thing and this was far from it.

“No.”

-

“Did you know that Tony would be here?” Ziva asked once the evidence was on its way and Kono was out of earshot. McGee shook his head.

“I don’t think Gibbs did either,” McGee said and shivered a little at the look Gibbs had been shooting Tony, like Tony was a particularly difficult suspect. McGee would not want to be the subject of that look for anything. 

“He looks well,” McGee added, a little inanely. From the little he had seen Tony, the other man seemed tanned and fit and healthy, at least much more so than he had toward the end of his time at NCIS. Ziva nodded. 

“We will talk to him and see what happened.” Ziva sounded very determined and McGee remembered stories of her cornering Tony in the men’s room. It was a perfect tactic for wanting him to feel off balance and vulnerable, but McGee didn’t want Tony thinking they were attacking him. 

“I think we need to be careful.”

Ziva turned to face him and he stopped as well.

“You do not think we deserve answers?”

“Of course,” McGee said, because Tony had left without any explanation and Gibbs had been even more silent than usual before that, and the team had been torn apart and they didn’t know why. “But I think we need to approach this with some caution.”

Ziva was silent for a moment, looking pensive, before she nodded.

“Agreed.”

They moved forward once more to join the others in the main area. Tony shook his head and stood up from where he was leaned over the table PC. Why did everyone else seem to have much better tech than them when they were the first major crimes response team in DC? 

“We need to interview Paul Bridges,” Tony stated definitively, pushing away from the table. 

“I’ll go with you,” McGarrett said immediately.

“This is a joint investigation, an NCIS agent will accompany Tony,” Gibbs told him. McGarrett folded his arms, his expression fixed. McGee thought he looked just as stubborn as Gibbs.

“Tony’s a consultant. Five-0 needs official representation.”

Tony rolled his eyes and manoeuvred between the two men. McGee almost giggled hysterically at the thought that they looked like a love triangle with Tony at the apex.

“So, I’ll go get the car and then all three of us will go,” he said evenly.

“McGee, David,” Gibbs said, eyes never leaving the two other men, “investigate the associates.” With that, Gibbs stalked away. 

Tony turned to McGarrett and pointed a finger at him.

“You!”

“What?” McGarrett asked innocently. 

“You know what.”

McGarrett grinned boyishly and shrugged.

“I think you owe me a steak dinner, too.”

“I have the perfect piece of rump,” McGarrett told Tony, his smile shifting into something flirtatious. Oh god, McGee thought, there’re two of them. Suddenly, his love triangle idea wasn’t looking quite so ridiculous.

-

Tony slipped away from where he had been lurking in the doorway, a moderating presence for Steve and Gibbs as they questioned Bridges. It was the first time since he’d seen Gibbs that he had a moment to himself. He appreciated Steve, and the team’s, interest in his well-being, but sometimes he just needed some time to catch his breath without having to keep in mind someone else’s worries or expectations. 

Besides, they weren’t getting anywhere with Bridges, which Tony had expected, but he’d needed Bridges distracted and he couldn’t think of two more distracting men then Steve and Gibbs. Although, he doubted Bridges found them distracting in precisely the same ways. He wasn’t entirely sure if Bridges would survive what would ultimately become an interrogation rather than questioning, but Tony wasn’t really concerned with him. 

He moved quickly down the corridor to where he’d seen Anne, Katie’s mother and Bridges’ wife, disappear when she’d offered the men something to drink and not returned. He found Anne sitting at the kitchen counter clutching a cup of tea a little too tightly as she stared off into the distance, not really taking in her surroundings. She startled when he cleared his throat and turned to look at him with wide eyes before rising to her feet. 

“I completely forgot about the coffee,” she said and began to busy herself with preparations. 

“How are you holding up?” Tony asked, not venturing further into the room. 

“Katie’s off at her therapist at the moment. It seems to be helping. Paul’s trying to get everything back to normal,” she told him, something like anger flitting across her face briefly before it was smoothed away. 

Tony moved forward then, taking the packet of coffee grains from her hands and putting it down on the counter. 

“How are you holding up?” he repeated. 

“I’m… I don’t know how I am,” she said with a shake of her head, before she looked up at him with teary eyes. “Thank you for bringing her home.” He smiled a little and shrugged.

“I was hoping I could ask you a few questions.”

“Of course, anything,” she agreed quickly. He settled at the counter and she settled opposite him.

“Tell me what your husband’s involved in.”

She straightened up, objection on the tip of her tongue, and Tony could see the battle she waged between husband and daughter, before she deflated entirely. She buried her head in her hands for a moment.

“He’s in over his head. I don’t know entirely what’s going on, but he gets phone calls at all hours and he’s anxious all the time. I think someone’s threatening him, but he won’t tell me who!” She stopped for a moment after that, calmed her breathing and blinked her eyes dry, before continuing more quietly. “That’s why I was so worried about Katie, about what might have happened to her. If he won’t protect her, then I will.”

Tony wondered what might have happened if Anne Bridges had waited for the police to follow up on her daughter’s case, if Paul Bridges hadn’t delivered on whatever Katie’s kidnappers had wanted or even if he had, people who were morally bankrupt enough to kidnap teenage girls were unlikely to keep their word.

“Do you know who’s been threatening him?”

“Talbot,” she told him, determination firming her jaw and steeling her spine. “Mike Talbot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before there are questions about it: McGee’s not entirely correct. Gibbs in this story is straight. (He’s not entirely wrong either).


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Gibbs is still straight. No, really.
> 
> And Tony refused to be properly angsty, he mostly just got panicky instead.

Tony settled into the backseat of the car and stretched out his legs, sighing deeply. Steve and Gibbs stewed silently in the front seats, Steve with a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel and Gibbs with folded arms and distant gaze. 

He had no idea what had happened in the room when he left, but Steve and Gibbs had been silent and sullen when they met up again. Tony wasn’t sure how to deal with them, how to even begin to deal with all the issues that settled solemnly between them, so he kept silent, too. 

Steve glanced up into the rear view mirror and looked at Tony, frowning briefly before he gave an encouraging smile. Tony shook his head but smiled back tentatively and Steve’s grin turned mischievous. Steve’s gaze cut sideward to Gibbs and Tony felt his stomach lurch in a way that had nothing to do with Steve’s driving. 

“So Gibbs,” Steve started, eyes glancing again at Tony in the mirror. Tony was sure his expression was horrified. Gibbs’s eyes narrowed and he turned to look at Steve. “You’ve known Tony a long time.”

Gibbs stared, Steve smiled, and Tony decided he’d rather be anywhere than stuck in a car with two ex-special forces nut jobs.

“So, you must know him pretty well,” Steve continued, completely undaunted. Tony wondered how many times Steve was tackled into a concussion when he played football, or exploded when he was with the SEALs, because there was no way he didn’t have brain damage. He wondered how he hadn’t noticed before. He’d have to ask Danny. Danny would be able to explain it quite loudly and in great detail.

Gibbs grunted. It might have been affirmation or dissent, Tony couldn’t tell anymore. 

“I imagine working together you got pretty close,” Steve continued and Tony felt the blood drain from his face because Steve seemed far too purposeful for this just to be casual interest, not when Steve knew at least the bare bones of the history.

Gibbs grunted again. 

Tony was tempted to headslap him. Either of them. His fingers twitched before he clasped them together. 

“No one gets close to Gibbs,” Tony said, a little surprised by the bitterness that leached into his voice. “No one but Abby.”

Gibbs glanced at him, expression unreadable, before he turned back to Steve.

“No one can resist you,” Steve told him. Something cold and shamed settled in Tony and he folded his arms across his chest, futilely hoping to ward off the feeling.

“No,” Gibbs said. Triumph flared behind Steve’s eyes. 

“Talented, too,” Steve challenged, eyes sharp as his gaze cut to Gibbs again.

Gibbs was silent for a long moment and Tony hoped, with his heart shuddering in his chest, that he wasn’t going to answer. He wondered if he could get the rest of his things out of storage, because co-habiting generally wasn’t aided by the desire to punch your partner.

“Very.”

There was no way this was going to end well.

Because Tony was going to kill them. Both.

-

“Tony!” Steve called as he chased after the man who was quickly stalking away. The rest of the ride back had been silent and uncomfortable in ways it hadn’t before Gibbs’s admission and Steve had never wanted to get out of a car faster. Not only to get away from the tense atmosphere, but because he had almost felt Tony distancing himself more and more as the ride continued. Tony paused at Steve’s call but didn’t turn. His shoulders remained stiff and he remained poised for flight. 

“Tony,” Steve said again.

“You don’t want to have this conversation with me right now,” Tony said, looking at some point over Steve’s shoulder. Steve winced. This really wasn’t what he’d intended. He wasn’t sure what he’d intended beyond forcing Gibbs’s hand. To his shame, he hadn’t really considered Tony’s reaction. 

“I’m sorry.”

Tony’s gaze flicked to his briefly and something softened minutely in his expression.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I knew this would be difficult for you and I pushed when I shouldn’t have.”

“It’s no big deal,” Tony said, slipping into a smile and a shrug. Steve gripped his shoulders and stepped closer, because he’d screwed up beyond his understanding and he had to make Tony understand.

“Yes, it is,” Steve insisted. “It’s important because you are. Far more than pissing off your old boss.”

Tony’s jaw clenched, but he didn’t shrug off Steve’s grip. 

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Tony repeated, shoulders slumping. Defeat shadowed his features, so like that very first time Steve had seen him in the bar, before he smiled a little wanly at Steve. Steve wondered to what he was referring – what had happened earlier, or what had brought him to Hawaii in the first place. Steve moved his hands to rest of the junction between Tony’s neck and shoulder and to cup his jaw. 

“Yes,” Steve said, making Tony look him in the eye. “It was. You are.”

“I’m a big deal, huh?” Tony asked, amusement sparking in his eyes. 

“The very biggest.” Steve grinned as Tony laughed.

“I still haven’t forgiven you,” Tony told him, still sounding a little upset, but his eyes when they met Steve’s were warm and his hands settled at Steve’s waist. Steve brushed a calloused thumb over Tony’s cheek and breathed out a sigh of relief, thankful that he hadn’t completely messed up everything. 

“You okay?” he asked. Tony shrugged and gave him a wan smile. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.” The answer was definitive and Steve, after the mistakes he’d already made, wasn’t going to push it at the moment.

“Can I go get the shotgun, yet?”

Tony laughed again and Steve, relief and happiness and fondness mingling, had to kiss him.

-

Tony avoided Gibbs’s eyes as he entered the room, Steve at his shoulder. Gibbs was standing over McGee, Ziva and Chin, arms folded, as he questioned their findings. Tony went over and began looking over what they’d discovered. 

“That’s the guy,” he said, pointing over Chin’s shoulder at one of the men they’d been looking into. Chin immediately moved the entry to larger screen.

“What guy?”

“Anne Bridges says he’s been threatening her husband.”

Tony caught Steve’s impressed look and felt some of the tension he’d still been feeling uncoil. They were okay, because Steve could be an idiot, but he loved Tony. Tony knew at least that much. He wondered if this mix of frustration and regard was what Danny felt around Steve all the time.

“According to our information he’s been implicated in a number of different crimes, including drug and human trafficking, arms dealing, assault,” McGee said. He glanced quickly between Gibbs and Tony before returning to the screen. At least the Probie’s observational skills had improved. Although the timing could have been better. 

“He’s Michael Archer’s right-hand man,” Chin explained. “Archer’s a failed politician and aspiring mobster. A number of agencies have been trying to get evidence on him in several states, but it appears he’s managed to build up an organisation that allows him to seem to keep his hands clean. He doesn’t seem to have any direct ties to Bridges.”

“So we need to find out exactly what’s going on in his organisation,” Kono said. 

She always anticipated being in the thick of things, but Tony felt tension coiling up his spine again and this time was grateful when Steve’s hand settled discreetly at the small of his back, because that usually meant undercover work. Tony subtly leaned back into Steve, taking comfort in the support offered.

“The last time someone went in with a warrant, they’d been warned and managed to either destroy or remove all evidence,” McGee said. 

“Well, if he intimidates others the way he did Bridges, he probably has someone in the District Attorney’s office,” Tony said, thinking of Katie being kidnapped. 

“We could bring him in for interrogation,” Ziva offered.

“Questioning,” Tony corrected absent, “and not without a pack of lawyers.”

“Well, that settles that. Someone has to get him to reveal himself. Think anyone will recognise us?” Steve asked Danny who rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know, do you think anyone’s noticed the way you’ve terrorised your way through the criminal element on the island?”

“Well, it was only the one grenade. And a few shootouts.”

“Some car chases.”

“And there was the guy I dangled over the side of a building.”

“And the other one in the shark cage.”

“The one on the hood of the car is all yours.”

“I think that’s fair.”

“So undercover work with the criminal underworld on the island...?” Steve asked.

“Probably not the best idea, no.”

“But not entirely ruled out.”

Danny looked entirely resigned. McGee and Ziva glanced at each other, mirroring a look of confusion. 

“Why does Tony not do it? He is very good at going under covers,” Ziva said. 

Danny snorted at Ziva’s error and Tony steadfastly avoided the clear blue eyes that bored into him. 

“I haven’t worked undercover in a while,” Tony said. McGee frowned as though puzzling at something and Tony was sure he was thinking of the last case they’d investigated.

“It’s not something you lose,” Gibbs told him. 

Tony held on to the thought that he could trust Steve and Five-0 team, that he had trusted them and they’d never let him down. That it would be Steve at his back.

“Alright,” he conceded reluctantly. “Chin?”

The other man was immediately on his feet. 

“I’ll debrief you.”

“Thanks,” Tony said softly and followed him out. 

-

Chin observed people. It was a part of his job he’d always been very good at, which was why he didn’t immediately say anything as Tony followed him into the equipment storage room.

“We’ll to be using the standard equipment. It might have changed since the last time you did this.”

“Let’s hope so,” Tony murmured. There was a waver in his voice that made Chin hesitate for the briefest moment, wondering if Tony was really alright with this, but he knew Tony would go through with it either way because it was something he felt he had to do. 

“First of all, there’s the belt transmitter,” Chin said, handing him a plain black belt. Tony frowned at it.

“Well, there goes Rule 9,” he murmured distractedly as he examined it, testing it around his waist to see how it would fit. “I wonder if Steve will let me borrow his knife.”

“I might regret this,” Chin began, not entirely sure he really wanted to know what Steve and Tony did with knives, “but what’s Rule 9?”

Sorrow washed across Tony’s features for a moment and Chin almost regretted the question. 

“Always carry a knife.”

Chin hummed noncommittally since he didn’t know what the appropriate response to that would be when it clearly meant so much more to Tony than a simple aphorism.

“I’ll give you a second transmitter to plant so we can continue recording. It’ll also serve as a failsafe during the meeting.”

Tony seemed to relax at that and it was only then that Chin realised exactly how tense he had been. He had already been tense the last few days but this was something beyond that, something connected to going undercover. Chin wondered just how many of Tony’s issues were focused on the three NCIS agents in the main office. 

“Always good to have a failsafe,” Tony said, forced smile looking almost painful.

“You know we will be with you every step of the way. Steve won’t accept anything less,” Chin assured him. He handed Tony a small device. “You’ll have an earpiece like this. It should be familiar to you; they’re fairly standard.”

“What can I expect?” Tony said, not acknowledging Chin’s reassurance. Chin didn’t take it personally since Tony wasn’t often inclined to talk about how he was feeling and he’d been laid bare emotionally more than once in the last day or two.

“He always has one bodyguard with him, who will pat you down for weapons. If you can’t get him to admit to anything, just plant the bug and get out as soon as you can.”

“I’ve got it.”

“Tony,” Chin began before Tony interrupted him.

“Chin,” Tony said, voice serious as he looked at the earpiece in his hand. “I’m going to ask you something and it’s going to seem a little ridiculous but I need you to go along with it.”

“Alright,” Chin agreed easily, because despite his generally effusive personality, Tony didn’t ask for much, didn’t really require much from them at all. He’d graciously invited their invasion into his life in all facets, even when he hadn’t known them at all, simply because of his connection to Steve. 

“Can you keep up a running commentary when I’m out there, even if it’s about the weather?”

“Of course,” Chin said, looking Tony directly in the eye so the other man knew how serious he was taking this. Tony grinned, still not entirely genuine, and looked a little bashful.

“Nothing like walking into a bunch of violent criminals armed only with your wits to make you appreciate a good friend.”

“You won’t be alone,” Chin assured him, even though it was only partially true.

“Yes,” Tony said, “I will be.”  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, shooting Gibbs has turned into a running joke. I’m not even sorry.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, who needs sleep anyway? I got inspired to write this and powered through the night, so hopefully it makes some kind of sense and is worth the killer headache I gave myself. I'm really getting way too old for this.

Tony stilled his jiggling leg and then had to stop himself from tapping on the counter. The back of the van was crowded and he could distantly hear Steve and Danny bickering in the front, though the words themselves washed over him without him paying attention. He could feel Gibbs’s and McGee’s eyes on him and that didn’t make him feel any more comfortable, but then he supposed McGee at least hadn’t seen him anxious before going under cover. Kono and Ziva were keeping an eye on Katie and Anne, making sure nothing happened to them while they were dealing with Archer and Talbot. Chin was inspecting the equipment one last time, which made Tony a little more confident going in.

Chin slipped the headphones on and cocked his head to one side. It was obvious he was suppressing a grin at the same time as the conversation at the front of the van was heating up. Tony raised an eyebrow but Chin shook his head. 

McGee leaned forward and Tony was sure he was a little annoyed at being left out of the process. Even when he’d worked for NCIS, Tony had usually gone to Abby for that sort of thing. It was probably indicative of how little trust Tony had had in him, even before the undercover thing went down. He wondered what came first, his distrust or McGee’s lack of trustworthiness. Maybe he’d been the catalyst for the whole thing, which was more than a little depressing to consider. 

“Works fine. Crystal clear reception,” Chin assured him and handed him the belt. Tony swapped it out for his own, then rested a hand on the sheath attached to the back of the belt where one of Steve’s knives rested. If they knew what they were doing, they would probably find it, but he was sure he could shrug that off. If they didn’t, then he had an advantage. Chin handed him an ear bud, too, and Tony pressed it into place.

“How’s this?” Chin asked. “Coming through clearly?”

Tony nodded and Chin smiled reassuringly. He’d kept Tony’s confession to himself, which Tony appreciated. He needed as few distractions as possible when he went in, and having the two teams going at each other, even more than they already were, was not conducive to that. His own thoughts were bad enough.

“This is your back-up device,” Chin told him, handing him a small rectangular device that fit easily into the palm of his hand. “If you can slip it into chair cushions or a pot plant, something out of the way that won’t be discovered for a while, that’d be perfect.”

“Sure,” Tony said, knowing it wouldn’t be nearly as easy as that. They’d be watching him carefully, he was sure. 

“We’ll be right outside,” Chin said. “And you know Steve’s going to storm the place like a one-man army if they so much as say a rude word to you.”

Tony smiled at what he hoped was an over-exaggeration, but was a little worried was entirely too true. 

“Damn straight,” Steve said, glancing briefly back.

“Eyes on the road!” Danny told him, the pitch of his voice rising. “Googly eyes later, driving like a sane, alive person now.”

Tony rolled his eyes, but his smile ratcheted up a notch. Steve and Danny bickering was normal. You could just about set your watch by it and that was strangely reassuring. 

“We’re almost there,” Steve objected.

“Eyes. Road. Until we’re at a complete stop, handbrake up, car off.”

“Fine. Fine.”

Gibbs grunted and glared at the front of the van. It had almost been enough to make Tony forget about his old team until then. He gripped his knees and tried to settle his thoughts again.

“You ready?” Chin asked.

“Always,” Tony said, because if he hadn’t been born for undercover work, then he’d certainly been raised for it, regardless of everything else. The van stopped and Tony felt a resultant jolt in his stomach that meant that this had suddenly become all too real. He breathed slowly and deeply and shrugged into his persona. He gave Chin a charming smile and Chin nodded solemnly. Trust Chin to catch all the undercurrents. “Let’s do this.”

-

Chin watched as Gibbs, Steve and Danny settled themselves around the entrance to the building. McGee stayed in the van, co-ordinating them while Chin focused on Tony. Steve had been curious at the arrangement, but had trusted Chin to have a reason for it. Chin, after all he’d been through, had never been so profoundly grateful to someone as he was Steve for having faith in him without any proof to the contrary. 

“Hey Tony,” Chin said as Tony stepped out of the van. “I’ll be right here” He rested a hand on the microphone and Tony nodded, tapping his ear. McGee watched all this in silence. Chin turned to the microphone as soon as the door shut behind Tony. 

“Today’s entertainment is brought to you by Chin Ho Productions,” Chin said, trying to keep it light. “Today we will be discussing Kono’s privileges with your TV. Silence will indicate consent.” There was an undignified squawk and Chin couldn’t help but smile even as he felt a little bad. “I’m sorry bro, my cuz put me up to this.”

“He’s in,” McGee told him. Chin nodded. 

“She’s scarier than you are. Well, usually.” 

Tony could be terrifying when Steve was in danger. He became cool and focused, and nothing stood in his way. Chin had seen him perform feats he’d usually only relegated to the realm of Super SEAL Steve. As long as Chin didn’t threaten Steve, he figured he’d be alright. 

He heard Tony talking to the receptionist, voice even and charming, and couldn’t help but admire the man, knowing at least a hint of what was going on under the surface. McGee kept in contact with the others, but watched Chin when he could spare a moment. 

“So there’s that tournament coming up this weekend,” Chin began. Tony groaned and Chin heard the ding of an elevator and assumed that was the most vocal Tony was willing to risk being. He took pity. 

“I’ll bring the beer and I’m sure Danny will bring pizza.”

“Isn’t that distracting him?” McGee asked with a frown. Chin glanced at him.

“The guy going undercover gets whatever he needs to make the process run more smoothly,” Chin told him, aware that Tony could hear every word, but there wasn’t anything in the world that could make him turn the mic off after promising Tony.

“But...” McGee began.

“There are no buts,” Chin told him, expression severe. Whatever had happened, Chin was getting a much clearer picture, and it wasn’t looking promising. “Undercover is dangerous enough without making the operative focus on the wrong thing. If that requires a running commentary, then that’s what we provide.”

“I...”

“Hey Tony,” Chin said, turning back around. “I was hoping this weekend you could teach me that move you did with that sweep. I haven’t worked out how to block it yet and I was hoping to use it on Kono next time we spar. She’s getting way too good at taking me down.”

Chin continued to talk, splitting his focus with listening to Tony introduce himself.

-

“Mr Archer,” Tony said with his most charming smile as he shook the man’s hand. Chin’s voice was a comforting drone in his ear. He’d deal with McGee when all this was over. “I’m so glad you could meet with me on such short notice.”

“Of course, Mr Cipriano. I’ve received some interesting information about you.”

The whole team had called in more than a few favours to set him up in the role. Tony held his smile, but made sure to shift uncomfortably, so Archer would notice his unease. Just because he was playing a criminal meeting a criminal didn’t mean his cover wanted to be recognised as one. 

“I’m sure you won’t mind if Talbot checks that you pose no danger.”

As expected, Talbot patted down his sides and arms, and a little too diligently along the inside of his legs. He even pressed a hand down his chest to check for a wire and slid a hand down his back to check there, but failed to check the belt for the concealed sheath that was attached at his back. The memory of Steve doing extensive, if unorthodox, checks to make sure it was well concealed steadied Tony against the way he wanted to cringe away from Talbot.

“If you’re quite done,” he drawled, tone bored as Talbot stepped away from him. 

“One can never be too careful,” Archer said and Tony refrained from rolling his eyes. 

“Of course,” he agreed and slid the second transmitter into the palm of his hand as he settled in opposite Archer. There wasn’t anywhere to secrete it away in the chair he was sitting in, but it would help to have it available at the first opportunity. “I appreciate the sentiment.”

“I understand you’ve got some merchandise that you’re having trouble moving,” Archer said, steepling his fingers. It was all so terribly clichéd.

“You would be correct. And it’s rather urgent that I find a solution as the merchandise is... perishable.”

He hated talking that way, hated referring to human lives like that, but to deal with criminals he had to embody them.

“It is a pity how fragile merchandise can be.”

“Indeed.”

“I think we might be able to come to an arrangement,” Archer told him.

“Excellent,” Tony said, allowing some of the triumph he was feeling to show. “I would like the details sorted out as soon as possible.”

“Of course.”

“Sir,” Talbot said, moving from the corner where he’d been talking quietly into a cell phone, and leaned down to murmur something to Archer. Archer frowned briefly before he wiped all expression from his face. “It seems something has come up. If we could resume this again tomorrow morning?”

“Of course,” Tony said, rising smoothly. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

“Likewise.”

Tony leaned over the table to shake hands with Archer once more, sliding the device into the opaque penholder, where it wouldn’t immediately be noticed. He held his bearing as he made his way out of the office to the elevator, but he did draw out his cell phone to hide his communication with the team.

“I think my cover’s been compromised,” Tony told Chin softly.

“Can you make it to the front door? If you can’t, let me know, and I’m sure Steve has a grenade launcher or something we can use to storm the place.”

“I don’t think he’ll try anything in his own building,” Tony said, feeling relief at the knowledge that the team, that Steve, were right there and had been the whole time. The elevator doors opened and Tony could see the front doors. Steve stood just outside and, beyond him, Danny and Gibbs loitered.

-

“Any idea what might have tipped him off?” Steve asked as the van pulled up outside of headquarters. Tony rose quickly and stepped out, and Steve knew he felt the need to move, to stretch his legs and work off the adrenaline. If the frown that marred Tony’s brow was any indication, then he was over-thinking what he might have done wrong. 

“No.”

“We’ll – “ Steve began, before something behind Tony caught his eye. He watched with suspicion as a car slowed as it drew near and, when he saw the barrel of a gun emerge from the window, he leapt at Tony and tackled him, twisting so that he came between Tony and the threat. 

Several bullets hit his vest with stinging force and he curled around Tony, hand cradling the back of his head as they collided with the pavement. Steve winced when Tony took the brunt of the impact. He could hear Danny and Gibbs, and then Chin and McGee return fire, so he risked a glance up just in time to see the car turn the corner. 

“I don’t think I’ve been tackled like that since college,” Tony said with a groan.

“I don’t think I’ve tackled like that since... well last week, actually, but that was a bad guy. You okay?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, then grimaced. “Mostly. I might need some stitches.”

Steve immediately clambered off Tony and began to look him over, patting him down as he did so. Blood began to pool beneath Tony’s thigh and Steve pressed on the wound, feeling bad when Tony groaned again.

“Chin, we need an ambulance,” Steve ordered. He turned back to Tony. “It doesn’t look they got an artery, but you’re still losing more blood than is good for you.”

“On the other hand, I’ll have some bed rest scheduled,” Tony said. 

“I’m sure we can make some good use of that,” Steve agreed. 

“You okay?” Tony asked, frowning. He began to run his hands over Steve.

“Huh?” Steve asked, becoming thoroughly distracted.

“Hail of bullets raining down on us? Sound familiar? If I got hit, you must have.”

“Just my vest.”

“Danny?” Tony asked, looking up at the other man.

“Looks like he’s telling the truth. At least, the only blood I see is yours,” Danny assured him.

“If you can get me out of staying for observation overnight, you can consider yourself completely forgiven,” Tony told him. Steve’s glare automatically shifted to a smile, knowing he was already forgiven if Tony could joke about it. 

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“I’ll make it worth your while,” Tony insisted as the sound of sirens screeching in the background became impossible to ignore. 

“Yeah buddy, I think we might have to put that on hold for a few days.”

“Ambulance is here,” Danny told them and Steve allowed the paramedics to push him out of the way as they dealt with Tony. He turned, Tony’s blood staining his hands, and looked at Chin and Danny. Gibbs could deal with McGee.

“I want everything we have on this guy, anything that will connect him to this,” Steve ordered. He didn’t wait for a reply as he climbed in the back of the ambulance with Tony.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you guys finally get the first of some actual confrontations. At least with McGee and Ziva. Gibbs is a whole other issue.

Steve smiled as Tony giggled drunkenly. He had never had the opportunity to see him on painkillers before, but that had been his condition for convincing the hospital to discharge Tony into Steve’s care.

“Are we going home?” Tony asked, reaching for Steve’s hand. He rested their entwined fingers above his heart and the gesture made Steve’s gut twist in all sorts of embarrassingly warm and affectionate ways. 

“Yeah, Tony, we’re going home. Just as soon as they get you a wheelchair.”

“I like your home.”

“It’s your home, too.”

Tony smiled up at him. 

“Haven’t really had a home before. Lots of places to live, ‘s not the same.”

Somehow, Tony always found new ways to break Steve’s heart, through no fault of his own, but just because it seemed no one had ever really tried to do right by him.

“It’s your home for as long as you want it to be. Forever, if I have any say,” Steve told him, stroking their entwined fingers with his thumb.

“I love you,” Tony said with a dopey grin. Steve smiled affectionately and ran his free hand through Tony’s hair.

“That’s the drugs talking.”

“Yes, probably,” Tony agreed easily. “Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

“I love you, too,” Steve told him and he leaned over to press a kiss to Tony’s forehead. 

“’M glad,” Tony murmured.

“Yeah, why?” Steve asked, finding a drugged Tony entirely too amusing. 

“Didn’t end so well last time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

Tony’s brow furrowed in distress and Steve ran a hand through Tony’s hair again. Tony hummed in contentment. Steve would have to let the matter drop for now. Questioning a drugged Tony when he’d lost his usual inhibitions really wasn’t fair. Though he was definitely holding him to his confession.

-

Chin glanced sideways at McGee again. They were both going over the files they’d compiled and the results of the bug Tony had planted, but they hadn’t had much luck uncovering anything new. McGee still looked a little pale and the rest of their teams were out following up on leads and interviews. Kono and Ziva had been spelled by HPD so that they could be out in the field and Chin was sure that Danny and Gibbs would want to stop by Steve’s place to see how Tony was getting on. Which left Chin to try to deal with McGee.

“You okay?” he asked. McGee jumped a little at the sound of his voice, before trying to calm himself.

“I’ve been on cases where things have gone downhill fast, you know? But to order a hit right outside the police department?” McGee shook his head.

“It’s a good thing we were right there, then,” Chin said, looking pointedly at McGee. McGee didn’t seem to get the hint.

“Yeah, I don’t want to imagine what would have happened otherwise.”

“You did a lot of undercover ops with Tony back at NCIS?”

“Oh yeah, Tony did a lot of them. He was undercover for a year once.”

“I wasn’t aware there was a gap in his record like that,” Chin said, frowning. It’s not something he’d feel comfortable doing now, but when Tony had first shown up in Steve’s life, Chin had had a look into his history. Steve’s judgement wasn’t always the best and Chin felt it was his duty to look out for him since Steve’s father wasn’t around to do it. Not that he’d ever told Steve. Or Tony, though he assumed Tony had guessed.

“Oh, no,” McGee said, warming up to the topic. “He was still working at NCIS. It was kind of a side thing.”

Chin’s respect for the man went up a notch. Undercover work was stressful at best and working in law enforcement in general was never a walk in the park, doing both meant that Tony had the ability to push himself to ridiculous limits. Chin wondered if that was why he’d looked on the verge of burning out when they’d met. 

“And you co-ordinated?”

“Sometimes. Usually when he did jobs with Ziva. Sometimes it was Abby. Not for that one though. I don’t know who co-ordinated for that one. The Director, probably.” McGee didn’t sound at all sure about that and Chin was getting a progressively worse feeling about the whole thing.

“So, he probably didn’t have anyone to depend on for that operation?”

“I guess not,” McGee said, looking a little troubled. Chin couldn’t believe Tony’s old team hadn’t bothered to question it before now.

“Was that typical?”

“No,” McGee said quickly then hesitated. “Well, sometimes. There was the lost transmitter, the time he was pretending to be an assassin, the time with the technical fault, and...” McGee trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

“You’ve never been a cop, right?” Chin asked. McGee shook his head, still looking a little too unnerved. “No one on your team has been?” McGee shook his head again. “Can I be straight with you, Agent McGee?”

McGee looked defiant for a moment before he took a deep breath and straightened his spine. 

“I’d appreciate it, Detective Kelly.” 

“You know what happens to cops that other cops don’t trust?”

McGee furrowed his brow in confusion and shook his head.

“They get isolated,” Chin said, hands curling into fists. He hadn’t realised just how much he and Tony had in common. Somehow, it was worse that Tony’s team had done it without any malicious intent. At least Chin had known what to expect. It had hurt, more than he’d believed it would, but he’d been able to anticipate it and at least try to roll with the punches. McGee seemed to be waiting for the punch line and Chin sighed. 

“There’s a reason cops punish other cops by not providing backup. It’s a death sentence. That happens and you know your options are to quit, transfer, or die.”

“No. It wasn’t like that,” McGee insisted.

“Did Tony know that?”

“Of course. It’s Tony. Everyone likes him.”

But Chin could see that McGee didn’t entirely believe his denial and he decided that was probably enough for now.

“I could really use some coffee. What about you?”

“That’d be great,” McGee said with a wan smile.

-

Steve settled Tony onto the couch. He refused to go to the bedroom, arguing that there was nothing there to entertain him. Steve was inclined to let him have his way because getting him up all those stairs was going to be a job and a half and it wouldn’t be helped by an uncooperative patient. 

Tony was asleep almost as soon as he was mostly horizontal. Steve smiled fondly and brushed a lock of too-long hair away from Tony’s forehead. He was going to have to get it cut soon, unless he wanted to take a leaf out of the Danno book of styling. Steve would have some strong words to say about that if he did.

His cell vibrated and Steve glanced at the display briefly, just enough to catch Chin’s name, before he answered. 

“Any news?”

“Kono and Agent David are tracking the car,” Chin told him without delay. “We’ve been going over what Tony’s bug’s picked up to see if there’s anything there.” There was something about Chin’s voice, some layer of anger, that made Steve pause.

“Something wrong?”

He hated to consider the idea that he might be needed at the office, but if there was something that was going to interfere with catching the people who did this, Steve would stop at nothing to eradicate those obstacles. Even... especially, if they were Tony’s old teammates. 

“No,” Chin said, firmly. “Just make sure Tony knows he’s not alone.”

“Always.” 

Steve had noticed Tony’s anxiety and Chin’s concern, but neither had approached him about it, so he had to trust that it was being handled. Chin would never have put any of them in danger and Steve was mostly just glad that Tony had felt he could reach out to someone, even if that wasn’t him.

“Good work, Chin,” Steve said, hanging up. He watched Tony’s relaxed expression with a frown. He knew he’d probably never know every hurt Tony had suffered, never be able to address each of them, but just maybe he’d be able to mend the worst ones.

Steve began a systematic patrol of the house, making sure everything was locked up and secure. Just as he was coming to the end of it, there was an insistent knock on the door. Assassins weren’t known for their politeness, but Steve reached for his gun as he checked who was there. Danny stood there, looking impatient and worried, while Gibbs glared steadily. Steve pulled open the door.

“Hey babe,” Danny said, “how’s he doing?”

“Sleeping,” Steve told him, opening the door for them. “But he’ll be fine.”

“I know how much you want to be out there,” Danny told him, moving into his personal space and resting a hand on his arm. “I’ll stick around here, make sure nothing happens to him. You go do your thing.”

Steve ignored the way Gibbs looked between them, glower settling around his eyes. There were very few people who really got the dynamic between them, but Tony was one of them and that was all that mattered. 

“Hey Danno!” Tony said from where he was pulling himself up on the sofa. He aimed a wide, charming smile at Danny, completely unaware of the mess his hair had become. Danny glanced at Steve who stifled a smile.

“Medication.”

“You okay?” Danny asked Tony.

“Yeah. It’s just a scratch.”

Danny rolled his eyes and looked back at Steve.

“Do they have a factory for guys like you, or something?”

“We’re hatched, fully grown,” Steve said. 

“I’d believe that if you came with fewer disorders,” Danny snarked. Steve grinned.

“Hey Tony,” Steve said, absently running his fingers through the injured man’s hair to put it in some sort of order. “Danny’s gonna stay with you for a bit.”

“I can help,” Tony insisted, trying to lever himself up from the couch.

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs barked, speaking for the first time, but Steve glared at him when Tony stiffened, expression shifting to one of mulish determination.

“I know you can,” Steve told him. “But you’ve got to sleep off the painkillers first.”

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, already sinking back to the couch. “Okay.”

Steve pulled Danny aside, ignoring his incredulous look.

“He can’t go back into the field,” Danny whispered furiously. Steve frowned at him for a moment before making sure Tony couldn’t overhear them.

“He’s a light sleeper, but they gave him the strong stuff and it should be enough to keep him down for another couple hours. When it wears off, give him two of these,” Steve said, handing him a small bottle of pills. 

“How exactly am I supposed to do that?”

“Improvise,” Steve told him, smiling at the idea of Danny trying to wrangle Tony.

“Improvise, he says.” Danny shook his head but gave Steve a light push.

“Let’s get going,” Gibbs said and, despite whatever else had happened, Steve was sure that Gibbs wanted to get these guys as much as he did. 

-

“Ziva,” McGee said, stepping away from his computer when the two women walked into the office. Ziva studied him for a moment and nodded, following him to the break room so they could have some privacy. He shifted awkwardly and opened and closed his mouth several times, trying find a way to say what he meant without misconstruing it. 

“McGee,” Ziva said impatiently.

“Do you think Tony trusted us?”

“Of course. We were a team.”

McGee thought about what he’d seen of Tony and Steve. He’d, mostly jokingly, thought about something going on with them and Gibbs, but he’d never really thought... Tony was a ladies’ man, had been as long as McGee knew him. While Tony had flirted with everyone, men included, McGee had just assumed that was part of his effusive personality, not an actual interest. And there was so much more he was coming to realise.

“I’m not so sure,” McGee said. “I think that might have been why he left. We didn’t have his six.”

“When haven’t we?” Ziva asked, offended. McGee looked steadily at her, though he was tempted to duck his head this was too important to avoid, and her gaze shifted away from his for a brief moment. “You believe that he felt we couldn’t be trusted?”

“I think we gave him cause.”

“But it went both ways. He played pranks, too.”

“None of his pranks put us in danger.”

“We did not either,” she objected.

“Yes,” McGee said firmly, thinking about what Chin had told him. He wondered how much the other man had realised about what had gone on. “We did. We left him on his own, without backup because we thought it was funny.”

“It... it was a joke. No one got hurt.”

“He could have died,” McGee said, properly realising it for the first time. “He could have died and we would never have known.”

“No,” Ziva said, but McGee could see that she didn’t quite believe it. He hadn’t realised it then, but, looking back, something had fundamentally changed between them. Tony had acted the same, but McGee was coming to realise that that’s what it had been; an act. 

After seeing Tony with the Five-0 team, the differences were obvious. Tony was open with the Five-0 team in ways he’d never been with them and the team supported him completely, supported each other completely. It was an eye-opener to see how it could have been.

“We owe him an apology.”

“Yes,” McGee agreed. “I think we do.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I got a little inspired and you get two chapters for the price of one. Who needs a thesis anyway?

“How’s Tony?” was Kono’s first question as soon as McGee and David had disappeared into the break room. 

“Steve says the wound wasn’t too bad and he should be on his feet in a few days,” Chin told her.

“How is he really?” 

Chin gave her a brief smile and shrugged.

“Tony’s always alright.”

“He will be,” Kono said definitively. She and the team would make sure of it. Chin’s smile became more genuine. “What about them?” she asked, jerking a thumb in the direction of the break room.

“That’s up to Tony.”

“I can’t work with her,” Kono told him. “She’s reckless, doesn’t discuss plans and expects me to follow her lead.”

“She has been an agent longer than you’ve been a cop.” 

Kono could see that Chin was trying to hide a smile.

“Barely,” she said a little sulkily. The thing was, Kono was almost sure she and Ziva might actually been able to work together, but she’d seen how Steve and Tony, and even Danny, had reacted to the other team, and that wasn’t something she could tolerate. They’d hurt Tony, she didn’t know how, but the fact of it was undeniable. “What can we do?”

“Solve this case.”

“Cuz,” Kono said, giving him a look. He met her look steadily. 

“Steve and Danny will take care of Tony. We can do the rest.”

“Alright, but I reserve the right to take a page out of Steve book and invoke a shark cage or two if they get snippy,” she said.

“I don’t think any of us would object,” Chin said, his smile sharp. She returned it with one of her own. 

The two NCIS agents took that moment to leave the break room. They looked solemn and Kono wondered what they’d been discussing. Chin didn’t look surprised and she knew that he had an idea what was going on, but it was easier trying to convince Steve not to do something reckless than it was to pry information out of Chin.

“What did you get?” Chin asked, becoming completely professional. Kono didn’t miss the way McGee looked at Chin, contrite and grateful all at once, but she focused on the case. The sooner the case was solved, the sooner they’d be gone and Tony would be back to his usual self, damaged but theirs. 

“We managed to track the car to a parking lot where it had been abandoned,” Ziva said, words clipped. 

“They’d managed to strip it clean before we got there, so there wasn’t all that much we could get from it,” Kono said.

“But it does match a car Talbot checked out of the company motor pool.”

“It’s circumstantial and it doesn’t give us a link to Archer, but it’s a start,” Chin said, beginning to tap at his keyboard. If the crime scene guys could find serial numbers, if they hadn’t long been erased, then they might be able to make a more substantial link. Still, if they could piece enough small pieces together, they might actually get somewhere.

“I’ll let Steve know,” Kono said, pulling out her phone. She wanted to find out how Tony was doing herself.

-

Gibbs had beaten him to the driver’s seat and Steve sat in the passenger’s seat, arms folded. Gibbs might not have been his first choice in partners, but Steve knew he was highly motivated. Whatever else was going on, they both wanted to help Tony and that was more important than anything else.

“He’s the best agent I’ve ever seen,” Gibbs said suddenly and Steve knew he meant Tony and not only because the only things Steve and Gibbs had in common were the case and Tony, and Steve had seen Tony work. Tony was dedicated and focussed, but that wasn’t all that unusual. What was, was the way he saw patterns and made connections that it took a moment for the rest of them to see and the intuition that was almost never wrong. Even when he wasn’t entirely right, he usually had them at least pointing in the right direction. So, Steve knew exactly who Gibbs was talking about, because Tony was also the best Steve had worked with, too.

Steve was interrupted from replying by the ringing of his phone. He answered quickly when he saw it was Kono.

“What we’ve got on Talbot is weak and there’s nothing on Archer,” Kono said immediately. “We’re looking into ways to properly tie them to this.”

“Good. We’ll question Talbot, see if we can get him to flip,” Steve told her. Gibbs gave him a sidelong look and nodded decisively. 

“How’s Tony?” she asked, not that the work side of things was done.

“He’ll be fine,” Steve assured her. “There wasn’t too much damage to the muscle and he will probably be up and about in the next few hours.”

“We’ll keep an eye out, then,” Kono said and Steve smiled. Despite Tony’s injury and his instructions to Danny about the pills, Steve didn’t have much hope in keeping Tony away from the office. 

“Don’t do anything stupid,” she told him, though he could hear the humour in her voice.

“What are you? Danny?” he asked. She gave a short laugh.

“I’m telling him you said that,” she said for saying her goodbyes and hanging up. Steve sighed as he slipped his phone back in his pocket and leant back into the seat.

“He’s going to be fine?” It’s phrased as a question, but it’s a demand for information.

“Yes.”

“He’s been hurt a lot.”

“Yes,” Steve repeated. “He has.” Steve didn’t have a full picture of what went down between Tony and his old team, but they’d hurt him, that much was obvious, and it grated that Gibbs was trying to caution Steve when Steve had been the one to piece him back together again. Gibbs’s hands tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

“You better treat him like he deserves,” Gibbs growled. It sounded like permission and somehow that made it all worse.

“I’m not the one who hurt him,” Steve said, eyes narrowing. “That was you.” There was a flinch in response to that, small but definitely there. “You and your team. So I’m not the one Tony has to worry about, but you’re in his life again now and I think you know what we would do if you repeated the mistakes you made the first time around.”

“Second time,” Gibbs corrected, his voice gravelly before he coughed to clear his throat. He nodded and Steve nodded in return. “Talbot?” Gibbs asked.

“Talbot.”

-

Danny finished another circuit around the house and checked the street quickly, before he settled down to watch Tony. His phone trilled causing Tony to frown in his sleep and Danny fumbled for the phone, answering it quickly.

“Danno!” Grace greeted.

“Hey Monkey,” he said, smiling automatically. 

“Kono said Uncle Tony is fine now but that he was hurt,” she told him, a slight tremble in her voice even though it was clear she was trying to be strong. Danny knew Kono had been teaching Grace to surf, but he hadn’t realised how close they’d become. He was grateful to Kono, to the entire team, for the way they’d adopted Grace. He’d been worried for her when she’d first come to Hawaii, because she was used to having a large family around her, keeping an eye on her, but it didn’t seem like that had changed at all. 

“He’s fine,” Danny assured her quickly. “He’s already out of the hospital and back home. I’m keeping an eye on him.”

“Can I speak to him?” Grace asked softly. 

“He’s sleeping at the moment, Monkey,” Danny told her, unhappy that he had to deny her the reassurance, but Tony also needed his rest. 

“Will you tell him he’s not allowed to get hurt?” 

“Of course,” Danny said, glancing again at Tony, frowning when he saw Tony murmur something unintelligible and grimace. He looked guarded, even in sleep. “It’s a very good rule.”

“And tell Uncle Steve he’s not doing his job,” she added and he smiled a little.

“He’s doing everything he can,” Danny said, because he remembered the way Steve tackled Tony and it was only because of his vest that he wasn’t dead instead. Steve still had a few impressive bruises that he was steadfastly ignoring, as usual. 

“Alright,” she said softly. 

“I’ll talk to you later, Monkey,” Danny said, keeping a close eye on Tony as he began to fidget, knocking a cushion off the couch. 

“Bye Danno,” she told him. He said goodbye as well and hung up. 

Tony muttered something, a little louder than before, and it sounded like a protest. Danny struggled between the impulse to wake him up and the desire for him to get some rest, but he know if he woke Tony up, then Tony would want to go straight to work. He sat on the armrest and stroked Tony’s hair, as he would Grace when she was sick but Tony flinched away from him, brow furrowing as he curled into himself. Danny’s heart gave a painful clench and he murmured any words of comfort he could think of.

Danny wondered what Steve would do, how he would help Tony, but Steve wasn’t here. He considered everything he knew about Tony and grabbed the remote. There already was a DVD in the player, so he just played that and wasn’t too surprised to see some old black and white movie take up the screen. He kept the volume low so it wouldn’t wake Tony, but it was loud enough to filter through Tony’s subconscious. Finally, Tony stilled, though the frown remained and Danny stayed where he was, watching Tony.

-

Gibbs kept his gaze forward as they waited for Talbot to leave the building, but he could feel McGarrett’s presence, unmistakably palpable beside him. The man was good at what he did, Gibbs could admit that, no matter what else he thought. McGarrett had also saved Tony’s life, which automatically put him in Gibbs’s good books. 

“Something you want to say?” McGarrett asked without looking at Gibbs.

Of course, there was also the fact that if Tony wasn’t involved, Gibbs wouldn’t have even tried to find common ground with McGarrett. It helped that Tony was their common ground.

“No.” 

There were all sorts of things he wanted to say, threats against hurting Tony or thanks for putting him back together and helping Tony thrive the way Gibbs had wanted him to in DC. But he couldn’t say any of those things, because it wasn’t his place, not anymore, and it was his own fault. 

“You’re thinking awfully loudly for someone who has nothing to say.” McGarrett’s tone was carefully neutral. 

“Tony’s happier than I’ve ever seen him,” Gibbs told him. “Really happy,” he specified, because he’d seen Tony fake being happy too many times. McGarrett looked at Gibbs sidelong and sighed.

“We care about him,” he said with a shrug, as though it wasn’t a big thing, as though Gibbs and Abby and Ducky and the others hadn’t. Maybe they hadn’t, at least not in the right way, not in the way Tony needed. 

“There he is,” Gibbs said, indicating in the direction of the building where Talbot was exiting. McGarrett became tense with anticipation. They left the car at the same time and advanced on the man. They tailed him around the corner, so he was out of view of the front of the building, and McGarrett grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him face-first, up against the wall.

“So, here’s the deal,” McGarrett said conversationally. “You confess and I don’t make you cry like a little girl.” McGarrett frowned, no doubt thinking of Kalakaua the same way Gibbs was thinking of Ziva. “Or a particularly terrified man.” Gibbs snorted.

“I’m curious about the shark cage incident,” he said and McGarrett bared his teeth in a smile.

“I think I made him cry. He might have wet himself, too, but the water disguised that.”

“You don’t have anything on me,” Talbot insisted. He pushed back against McGarrett but failed to make the SEAL move. 

“You’d be surprised what we’ve managed to dig up,” McGarrett said, low and menacing. Gibbs was impressed. 

“What he’ll do is worse than anything you can threaten,” Talbot told them. 

“You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to get away with murder,” Gibbs said with his own edge of menace. 

“Or how long it can take to get there.”

“And how much you’ll wish the trip was shorter.”

“You can’t.”

“The man you had shot, he’s important to us,” McGarrett told Talbot. 

“And we really don’t take kindly to threats against him,” Gibbs added.

“What do you want from me?” Talbot asked, his voice quavering just a little.

“We’ll start with the attempting shooting and we’ll move on to Archer and what he’s involved in.”

“Fine, fine.”

McGarrett pulled Talbot away from the wall and cuffed him. He and Gibbs shared a grin over Talbot’s hunched form.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which there are apologies and everyone adores Tony.

Tony wrenched himself from groggy, half-formed nightmares and opened his eyes. That was why he hated taking medication, it left him feeling loopy and it made it so difficult to tear himself away from his subconscious. He looked to the screen where a movie was playing, to see Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dance across the screen. He sighed and carefully swung his feet to the floor. 

The wound in his thigh flared, sending spiking pain up to his hips and down to his knee until his entire leg felt like it was on fire. He breathed in heavily through his mouth until he could get it under control enough that he could concentrate on something else. 

“You okay?” Danny asked as he settled down next to Tony, hand automatically going to rub soothing circles on his back. He couldn’t help but think that Grace was a pretty lucky little girl.

“Fine,” Tony said instinctively. Danny stared at him steadily. “A little sore, but I’m alright, really. I’ve had worse.”

“That’s not exactly encouraging.”

“On a scale of one to plague, it’s about a ‘not as bad as it could be’,” Tony said, trying for a smile. It didn’t quite work if the look Danny shot him was any indication.

“They really do make you guys in a factory.”

“I’ll have you know I was handcrafted by the finest artisans. I’m an original.”

“You’re something, alright,” Danny said and shook his head. It was his fond-annoyed tone, though, not his annoyed-annoyed tone, so Tony let it go. 

Tony started to lever himself off of the couch, jaw clenched against the noise that wanted to claw its way out of his throat, when Danny pressed gripped his shoulder and pressed down firmly, keeping Tony in his seat.

“You are not getting up from that couch,” Danny told him definitively. “You are going to lie down, take your pills like a good boy, and sleep. You are not going to get up, go to the office, or drive me to an early grave.”

“Steve would never forgive me,” Tony said with a small smile. At least now he knew the terms of negotiation.

“Steve would forgive you anything and it’s Grace you have to worry about,” Danny said, aggrieved. Tony’s smile widened as he considered the rest of the team, his family. He grinned and Danny’s look turned to one of wary concern.

“So, how’s the case going?”

“Fine. And there are more than enough people dealing with it,” Danny told him firmly, trying to stave off Tony’s inevitable request. Tony was not that easily dissuaded.

“So, we go to the office and I promise not to run off by myself,” Tony said, expression as earnest as he could make it. 

“You stay right there and I promise not to sit on you until you’re better.”

Tony considered for a very brief moment that Danny might not actually be joking, but he’d go insane if he had to be cooped up here, away from everything that was happening, and decided it was worth the risk.

“We go, I camp out on the break room sofa and nobody does anything foolish.”

“No.”

That was Danny’s obstinate tone and Tony knew there was little negotiating with that, but Tony had his own brand of stubborn.

“Or I could just wait until you turn your back or use the bathroom and run off on my own,” Tony told him. “How much coffee have you had today?”

“I should just handcuff you to the coffee table and be done with it,” Danny muttered with a sigh. “Fine. We’ll go to the office, but you take a pill before we do, and if you get off the sofa in the break room I’ll tell Grace you haven’t been looking after yourself.”

“Aye aye, sir,” Tony said with a wave of his hand that approximated a salute.

“I should have just dosed your food like I planned,” Danny complained.

-

Less than half an hour later, Tony was ensconced on the sofa in the break room with a pad that was hooked up to the team’s database. He ran a finger across the screen, scrolling through the documents. He determinedly ignored the way the team checked in on him, through the glass if not actually entering the room. It was nice, he decided, knowing that they cared about him like that. It warmed up all sorts of cold and desolate parts of himself. It made the way McGee and Ziva eyed him apprehensively almost tolerable. 

He looked up at a soft knock on the door and sighed when he saw an anxious McGee with a somewhat reluctant Ziva behind him. There was no way he was going to be able to avoid them, not when it had taken most of his strength to get from the car to the couch without giving Danny too much of an impression of what a bad idea this probably was. McGee shifted anxiously from foot to foot and Ziva stood, absolutely still in the way of predators just before they pounce. Tony knew this was going to be just awful.

“Tony,” McGee began before Ziva shoved in front of him and grabbed a chair, sitting down in front of him, blocking any escape. McGee grabbed a chair and sat a little further away.

“We need to talk,” Ziva said. Tony raised an eyebrow.

“About what?”

“Why you left,” she said. Tony’s expression blanked, showing nothing. He was too distracted by pain and medication to put proper effort into his mask, so blank was better than nothing.

“About the team,” McGee added quickly.

“I’m not part of the team anymore,” Tony said. 

“I know, that’s what we wanted to talk about,” McGee said and Tony figured Ziva’s method of getting straight to the point was easier, if only because the whole thing would be over quicker. “We wanted to apologise.”

Even without everything else, Tony wasn’t sure he could have kept the pole-axed expression off his face. What?

“What?” he asked. They wanted to apologise? It went against Gibbs’s rules and no one on the team did that, not unless they were Gibbs. Since when hadn’t it been about making him apologise? For taking over the team when Gibbs had left, for not being entirely happy when Gibbs returned, for Jeanne.

“We acted improperly,” Ziva said. 

“What?” he said again and then wondered if maybe Danny hadn’t slipped him more of his medication than he’d thought. That was the only explanation for this.

“We’re sorry,” McGee said, looking at Tony with all the earnestness he had at the very beginning when he’d been trying to impress everyone instead of just Vance.

“For what?”

“For letting you think we didn’t have your six,” McGee said.

“That is why you left, is it not?” Ziva asked when he didn’t respond immediately.

“I...” Tony began, but wasn’t entirely sure what he really wanted to say. He had no idea how to deal with this, how they’d react to the truth. “That was part of it.”

They both looked uncomfortable at the affirmation of their suspicions, but they nodded resolutely. 

“We meant it as a joke, turning off the mic, but I realise now that it wasn’t. It wasn’t funny at all,” McGee said. He looked down at his hands he twisted them together anxiously. “It was criminal.”

Tony swallowed hard, surprised at how much he’d actually needed to hear that, to have them acknowledge that. 

“It was not fair to you,” Ziva added. “You would never have left us without backup and we should never have considered it.”

“Thank you,” Tony said finally, not sure what else he could say.

“What made you go?” McGee asked, staring at Tony intently. “It was months between that and when you left.”

Tony considered making a joke, diverting their attention, even lying, but it was long past that and maybe they all needed a bit of a wake-up call. If Steve and his team had taught him one thing, it was that secrets had no place in a team, not when it meant the safety of the team. Even if it wasn’t his team anymore, Tony still worried about McGee and Ziva and any potential new teammates they might get. 

“I was left, surrounded by drug dealers with weapons, and no back-up,” he said, remembering that last mission and fear that had shot through him when no one had responded to his code word.

“That was an accident, a technical fault,” McGee said that with a frown.

“I know that. At least, I know that now, but I didn’t know it when it mattered. I couldn’t trust that you would be on the other side of that mic, on my six, when it counted. And I refused to work with people I couldn’t trust,” Tony explained.

“We are sorry,” Ziva said and Tony nodded.

“I know,” Tony said. “It means a lot.” 

He smiled, a little strained but mostly genuine, and they smiled back. Danny opened the door and gave the two NCIS agents a hard look.

“You doing okay, Tony?” he asked. 

“Fine,” Tony said, grinning at Danny’s mother-henning. Danny rolled his eyes.

“We were just leaving,” Ziva said standing up. McGee hesitated a moment longer before he nodded at Tony and they both left. 

“You okay?” Danny asked.

“Fine,” Tony repeated. “Really.” He paused a moment and frowned. “I don’t suppose you snuck me an extra dose of medication when I wasn’t looking?”

“No, though if I thought I could get away with it... Why?”

“I just had a really strange conversation.”

“Anyone need shooting?” Danny asked and Tony shook his head. 

“You and Steve are far too similar.”

“Slander,” Danny objected. “Lies.”

Tony laughed.

-

Steve’s grin was feral went he got back to the offices and as much as he wanted to get to work on Talbot immediately, he had to check in on Tony, whose dark head he could see through the break room window. At least he was on the couch. He left Gibbs to deal with processing Talbot. The rest of the team would help him. 

“I’m going to have to revoke Danno’s steak dinner privileges,” Steve said as he entered the room. 

“You really thought I was just going to sit this one out?” Tony asked with a raised eyebrow. Steve rolled his eyes. He settled on a chair near the couch.

“What was I thinking?” Steve said with a smile as he stroked a hand through Tony’s hair, smoothing down the spikes.

“I don’t think anyone knows the answer to that,” Tony told him, leaning into his touch, just a little.

“You okay?” Steve asked more softly, moving to cup Tony’s jaw, thumb stroking his cheek.

“I’m alright, really.” Tony frowned a little then and sighed. “I had an odd conversation with McGee and Ziva.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. They apologised for something that happened back when we were a team.”

Steve’s curiosity at that burned, but he put it aside. He wondered if this had something to do with whatever Tony had confided in Chin. If so, then he was glad it was being dealt with. Tony did look lighter somehow, less burdened, and whatever had done that made Steve happy.

“Good,” was all he said. The smile Tony gave him was bright and cheerful. “You’ve just taken your pills, haven’t you?”

“Just one. It was Danny’s condition on coming here, though it’s just kicking in.”

“How on Earth did you manage to convince Danny?” Steve asked, impressed.

“I threatened escape,” Tony said a little sheepishly. At least he had been mostly inactive.

“A dastardly plan, to be sure.” Despite using his most neutral tone, Tony caught the humour beneath it and glared at him. It wasn’t the best, or worst, glare Tony could muster but it was still fairly impressive. “I love you,” Steve offered and Tony’s expression immediately melted. 

“You’re just saying that so I won’t be annoyed with you.”

“I’m saying it because it’s true,” Steve said, brushing a thumb over Tony’s lower lip. “And because I don’t want you to be annoyed with me.”

“Okay,” Tony said, flushing a little. His hand came up to hold Steve’s and he entwined their fingers. “Me too.”

Steve’s grin was blinding.

-

Gibbs let Kelly and Williams deal with Talbot. There was something he needed to do. Something long overdue. Through the window of the break room he could see Tony, laid out on the couch, with Steve leaning over him. They looked close, intimate. They also looked happy. It had been longer than Gibbs had realised since he’d seen that look on Tony’s face. 

Gibbs realised anew that this was where Tony needed to be, with these people, in this place. This is what Tony had been searching for all those years. 

Gibbs could accept that. He had to.

Tony deserved it, Gibbs knew that. He could see the way Tony listened to them and they listened to him. Tony was even resting. It might not have been bed rest, but Gibbs had never seen him take any down time, not even after the plague. Gibbs had never seen him like this. 

It made him regret everything that had happened all over again. He wondered how things could have different, how they might each have changed things, but in the end it wouldn’t have mattered. This was Tony’s home, in every way that mattered. 

But Gibbs knew Tony, knew he didn’t give up the past. He carried it with him, all the time, even when it would have been better to let it go. They were similar in that way and this wasn’t something Gibbs wanted hanging over Tony, not when he had everything going for him. They couldn’t just sweep things under the rug again like they were both prone to doing. He needed to deal with Talbot first, because he threatened what Tony had been building, then they needed to talk.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my brain, Gibbs and Tony’s issues are summarised thusly: there was a thing, and then a thing about the thing, and now it’s a whole big thing.  
> What can I say, I grew up to Joss Whedon. I think it irrevocably scarred me. Also, hopefully not a disappointing reveal.  
> Street name entirely made up.

Steve seated himself opposite Talbot, paging through the documents the teams had managed to gather. Gibbs loomed threateningly from behind Talbot, one hand resting on the back of Talbot’s chair and the other on the table in front of him. 

“Let’s get started,” Steve said, glancing at the camera in the corner of the room to make sure it was recording. He was not going to risk Tony’s safety on a technical issue.

“What can you tell us about Archer?” Gibbs said, voice low and menacing. 

“There’s not really much I can tell. He kept most of his business dealings to himself,” Talbot said, eyes wide and fearful. Steve didn’t believe him for a second and from the way Gibbs’s hand curled into a fist on the surface of the table, Steve didn’t think he did either. 

“Start from the beginning,” Steve told him. 

Talbot breathed in deeply and let out a shaky breath before he looked at Steve with just a little too much calculation behind his eyes before Talbot quickly replaced it with fear and apprehension.

“I want protection,” Talbot insisted. “If I’m betraying Archer, then I want some kind of deal. You don’t know what he’ll do.”

“You give us something worth using and we’ll consider it,” Gibbs told him, leaning in. This time when Talbot swallowed in fear Steve could see it was real. He folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

“Or we could just cut you loose,” Steve said. “After we put out that you co-operated. I’m sure Archer would be interested in hearing about that.” Steve’s smile was mostly teeth and Talbot swallowed again. 

“Here’s the thing,” he continued. “We don’t particularly care if you die. In fact, we’d probably prefer it after what you did. The only thing you have to bargain with is your co-operation and if you don’t, then we really don’t have a reason to do you any favours.”

“He started small with drugs, just selling locally. It’s only when he got into guns that he started a proper national network. With the girls came access to the international market,” Talbot said, hands gripped together tightly as he fought to maintain control over his reaction.

“You’re not telling us anything new,” Gibbs growled.

“He’s got a series of warehouses and buildings in the city. Some of them are legitimate, but not all of them. He was considering moving some of the merchandise from a warehouse on Allamanda, because he suspected that you were getting too close, but I don’t know which one he was planning on using.”

Steve glanced at Gibbs who nodded. It was something they could use since they’d pretty much been bluffing until now. He trusted to the team to find something, but until then Tony would be in danger and they needed every break they could get. Gibbs straightened and strode out of the room. Steve took a pad of paper and turned it to face Talbot before sliding it across the desk.

“I want you to write down everything you know and I want you to sign it,” he said. Talbot nodded and clicked the pen to start writing.

-

Gibbs stalked across the office towards McGee and Kelly, unable to contain fully his frustration and anger at their inability to drag anything more out of Talbot. 

“Archer might be moving his merchandise soon. I want to catch him when he’s vulnerable.”

“On it, Boss,” McGee said quickly. Gibbs stared at him intently for a moment before he nodded and made for the break room. He needed coffee and still needed to have that talk with Tony. He grunted something at Tony as he entered and went straight for the coffee. Gibbs poured a mug of lukewarm coffee and swallowed it down in one gulp so he wouldn’t have to taste it. 

He started a new pot to give himself a moment to fortify himself for the coming discussion before he couldn’t put it off any longer. He turned and face Tony whose expression was carefully blank in that practiced way he had.

“Tony,” he said, grabbing a chair near Tony and dropping into it. “How are you?” he asked, which wasn’t what he had really intended to say, but he’d never planned to be good at this.

“Fine,” Tony said automatically. Gibbs had almost forgotten; Tony was always fine.

“Why did you leave?” It was a little more blunt than he’d intended, but it did the job. Tony looked a little spooked by the question before he looked away, hands clenching into fists.

“You know why.”

“Tony,” he repeated, watching Tony closely. “Why did you leave?”

“Why are you making this such a big deal?” Tony demanded, pulling himself up on the couch as much as he could, trying to gain some ground in the struggle.

“Why did you leave?”

“Because I was in love with you. Horribly, desperately, madly in love with you. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Tony demanded. 

Gibbs stared at him for a long moment. Tony looked wrecked and Gibbs knew he’d done that. He held back a sigh. This wasn’t about him. It was about Tony and what Tony needed. It was a wound that needed to be lanced because he didn’t want Tony to end up like him, bitter and lonely and alone.

“Tony,” he said gently, as though trying to calm a skittish animal and Tony glared fiercely up at him.

“You bastard,” Tony snarled and Gibbs knew that the only thing keeping him from getting a punch to the jaw was Tony’s leg. 

“Tony,” he said again, softly, and he settled himself in a chair near the couch. “I’m sorry.”

Tony stared at him, wide-eyed.

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” he said again. 

“No,” Tony said firmly thought he couldn’t meet Gibbs’s eyes.

“What?” it was Gibbs’s turn to ask.

“You don’t get to do this,” Tony told him, crossing his arms. “You don’t get to be all magnanimous and accommodating like you didn’t hurt me worse than anyone before.”

“I’m sorry,” Gibbs said again. “It was the anniversary of... well it was the anniversary.” Tony automatically filled in ‘of Shannon and Kelly’s deaths. “And I was drunk and feeling miserable and then you were there. I suspected how you felt and I... I was flattered. I wanted to be wanted and it wasn’t fair to you. I’m sorry.”

“Which bit are you sorry for?” Tony asked, expression cold and remote. “The bit where you shoved me up against the wall and we got each other off like teenagers or the bit where you tossed me out like week old trash and then wouldn’t look at me?” 

Gibbs winced at the rather accurate description. 

“I was ashamed. Of myself, of what I’d done, but mostly of how I’d used you.”

He had been curious, had considered it, but when faced with the reality had been scared. Because if anyone could have made him interested in men, it would have been Tony, but Gibbs just wasn’t wired that way when he wasn’t being desperately selfish and self-involved. No matter how things turned out, even if Tony was happy here, Gibbs knew that how he’d treated Tony was always going to be one of his regrets, if only because it had made Tony doubt himself and his place in DC. 

“You deserved better,” Gibbs continued. “You deserve better.”

When Tony exhaled, his breath was a little shaky and, when he blinked, his eyes shimmered. This time it was Gibbs who couldn’t meet his eyes. 

“You deserve to be happy.”

“I am,” Tony said, finally looking at him again. 

“Good.”

It wouldn’t fix everything, Tony’s hurts weren’t something you just got over, but Gibbs could see that at least some of Tony’s burdens had been lifted in the unclenching of his jaw and the release of tension around his eyes. Gibbs’s mouth quirked in a hint of a smile and Tony smiled briefly in return. He stood and patted Tony briefly on the shoulder and made to leave. He paused in the doorway.

“Jackson wants you to call him,” he added before exiting. 

-

“You okay?” Steve asked as he came into the break room. Tony looked up at him, bleak and weary. Steve was immediately at his side, arms going around him. Tony curled into him and Steve tightened his grip. Tony needed this, needed Steve and his acceptance that seemed without limit. 

Tony sometimes wondered, in the dark of the night when Steve was asleep and Tony lay awake staring at the ceiling, if he’d suddenly run into the end of it and what he would do then. His family had abandoned him, the football team had after his injury, just about every precinct he’d worked at, and for a while it seemed his team had, too. There was a part of Tony that was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Fine,” Tony said with a hint of humour even as his hands clutched at Steve’s shirt. 

Steve slid onto the couch next to Tony and settled them more comfortably. The couch was a little small for both of them, but Steve arranged their limbs in a tangle so that it worked. Tony sighed and leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder. 

“I don’t think I can take any more surprises today,” Tony said softly. McGee and Ziva had been bad enough without adding Gibbs to the mix. He was glad that they’d managed to resolve their problems, or at least start to, but it had left him feeling drained. At least he no longer had to try to negotiate Gibbs and his aggravatingly mixed signals. 

“So I should cancel the party then,” Steve said with a smile. Tony slapped at his chest lightly and Steve retaliated by sliding his hand down from Tony’s waist to grip his ass. Tony sighed into Steve’s neck and slid a hand up to clutch at Steve’s hair and drew him into a kiss.

“You’re going to have to re-instate Danny’s steak dinner privileges,” Tony murmured, because they really had agreed to keep their relationship outside the office as much as possible, especially when they were on a case.

“You get special allowance for being shot,” Steve said, pulling him into another kiss.

“And what do you get?”

“Lucky?” Steve asked with a hopeful grin. Tony sniggered before he turned serious again.

“I really am okay.”

“I know,” Steve said, pressing a kiss into his hair. Tony sighed again and relaxed against him and Steve raised his arm to wrap around Tony’s shoulders pulling him close. 

“I’m tired,” Tony said and his voice was layered with exhaustion and regret that had nothing to do with being physically tired. 

“I know,” Steve said again. “Anything you need, we’re here for you.”

“I know,” Tony echoed. 

“We’ve got Talbot,” Steve told him. “And he’s given us some good information we can move on. It won’t be too long before we get Archer, too.”

“Good,” Tony said. “That’s good.”

They were silent a long moment and Steve traced lazy patterns over Tony shoulder.

“I’ve been going through the files,” Tony said, voice fading a little. “I think we’re onto something big.”

“We’ll figure it out later,” Steve told him and waited for Tony’s breathing to deepen as he slept. 

-

“Hey, Detective,” McGee said, looking at Chin across the table. “Thanks.”

Chin nodded, not having to ask what he meant since he’d seen McGee and David talking with Tony earlier. Steve was in the break room with him now, which Chin was glad for since he knew Tony would need someone now and Steve had said he wouldn’t leave Tony alone.

“I’m glad he’s got you guys,” McGee added and Chin smiled a little. 

“We’re lucky to have him with us,” Chin told him. 

“You really are,” McGee said. Chin wondered if McGee was talking about how much of an asset Tony was to the team or that he was a good man that they were all better off knowing. Despite all the epiphanies that seemed to have occurred, Chin still suspected it was the former over the latter. 

They were silent for long moments as they carried on going over the recordings they’d made from Archer’s office. Archer was awfully careful about what he said and how he said it, especially who he said it to, so they’d been having a great deal of trouble getting anything useful. Most of it was so couched in code and secrecy that they could only guess at what operations Archer was talking about.

McGee snorted when they reached a part of the recording where Archer ranted about cops interfering with his business. 

“He’s good at that.”

“Hmm?” Chin questioned mildly.

“Annoying people until they make a mistake or admit to something they shouldn’t.”

“He is one of the best interrogators I’ve seen.”

“Tony once annoyed the Director of Mossad into a confession,” McGee said with admiration. Chin wondered if it was the first time McGee was considering that it had been intentional and not entirely by accident.

“Hang on,” Chin said, rewinding the recording to hear Archer mention a warehouse where they were keeping merchandise. That was definitely what Gibbs had been looking for. “They’re moving something, because he thinks the location has been compromised.”

Archer never used a word other than ‘merchandise’, so it could have been anything from drugs and guns to people. He was frustratingly circumspect and Chin hated it because it meant Tony was still in danger. However long it took to catch him, Tony would be in danger and that wasn’t acceptable.

“There,” McGee said, replaying another bit of conversation mentioning access to the harbour. “I think I might have an address,” McGee added, as he went over Archer’s property records. 

“I’ll get a warrant,” Chin said, already going for the phone.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a number of questions about when I'd continue this, so I figured it was about time I got around to it again.

Steve glanced in the direction of the break room, where Tony was still hidden by the back of sofa, meaning he was probably still asleep. As much as he was glad that Tony was resolving some of his issues, he couldn’t say he was happy about the emotional toll it was taking. All Steve could do was wait it out and be there for whatever the consequences might be, because he knew Gibbs and his team wouldn’t be, probably wouldn’t even expect fallout. But they didn’t need to, they weren’t Tony’s family.

“Chin,” Steve called, gesturing to his office. Chin was on his feet immediately, following Steve into the office. “I need a favour.”

“Do I get a steak dinner out of it, too?” Chin asked with a straight face, though his eyes gleamed with humour.

“Sure,” Steve said with a brief smile.

“Alright then. What do you need?”

“I need you to stay behind when we raid the warehouse.”

Chin glanced through the window in the direction of the break room and nodded, not needing to ask any questions. Steve knew Tony could look after himself, that he had been doing so for most of his life, but that didn’t mean he had to, not when there was something Steve could do about it. Not when Archer was still at large and a threat to Tony’s safety. Certainly not when Archer had shown that he wasn’t hindered by a police presence.

“No problem,” Chin said and Steve nodded, comforted anew to have good people at his back.

“Thanks,” he said, clapping Chin on the shoulder before going out into the main office to co-ordinate the rest of the operation.

“How are we doing this?” Danny asked when Steve and Chin joined them.

“A joint Five-0, NCIS team, backed up by HPD will search the warehouse while another team watches Archer until we give the word to arrest him,” Steve said, putting aside all other concerns except the successful completion of the case. 

“Kono and Ziva on Archer,” Gibbs said and Steve agreed. The two women worked well together, able to put whatever issues they might have had to one side. Steve did not want to give Archer the chance to escape and come back at them when they couldn’t anticipate it. At least in prison most of his ability to act would be mitigated and the team could keep an eye on him, too.

“You got it,” Kono said, glancing briefly at Gibbs but focussing on Steve. He nodded at her, reassuring her that they would take care of things from their end and reaffirming the chain of command, because he knew she wouldn’t take getting orders from Gibbs all that well.

Kono and Ziva both moved swiftly to gather their things and left quickly.

“That leaves the rest of us to deal with the warehouse,” Steve said. 

“I’d like to stay behind,” McGee said, glancing briefly in the direction of the break room before focusing on Gibbs. Gibbs’s gaze bored into him for a long moment before he nodded.   
-

“Clear,” Steve said, checking the last of the offices. He heard the same ringing out from other officers. There’d been a brief fire fight at entering, but that had died out fairly quickly when the men realised they were vastly outnumbered. Several were dead or injured, some had surrendered and some had fled. Steve figured the kinds of people who trafficked in kids weren’t exactly courageous. 

“You get them?” Steve asked, returning to the main area where a number of girls and a few boys were being led away by some officers. Danny nodded, gaze followed the line of children, the oldest of whom looked barely sixteen. “They gonna be alright?”

“Maybe,” Danny said, frowning, and Steve was sure he was thinking of Grace the way he did, they all did, when it was a case involving kids. “Most of them, probably.”

“You willing to wrap up here?” Steve asked, knowing it was a lot, especially with this kind of case, but Danny was rolling his eyes before Steve had even finished. 

“Yes, yes, go check in with him.”

“McGarrett!” Gibbs called before Steve could get more than a step away. Steve winced, then steeled himself. As much as he wanted to get back to Tony, he did have a job to do.

“Something you need, Gibbs?” Steve asked, a little more sharply than he intended. 

“We’ve got what we needed to implicate Archer,” Gibbs told him, holding up a file. “There’s more we’ll have to go through.”

“Great,” Steve said, less brusquely, because that was the kind of news he’d been hoping for. It would curtail the threat against Tony, if not end it entirely. While fighting the court case, Archer’s interest would be focused in other directions, like Talbot, which Steve couldn’t bring himself to care about. 

“We can finish here,” Gibbs told him. 

“You’re alright, Gibbs,” Steve said, jogging out of the warehouse.

-

Tony woke to a quiet office with only the soft sounds of the striking of keys and tap of someone using the table computer that he usually associated with Chin. He pulled himself up and looked to see Chin and McGee working together, talking quietly as they co-ordinated the operation. 

Carefully, Tony eased his feet to the floor and grabbed his crutch. He levered himself up slowly, still keeping an eye on Chin and McGee as he smoothed down his hair and straightened his clothes until he was composed and presentable. 

Chin glanced up then and seemed surprised to see Tony up and about. He made a move to go to Tony, torn between duty to Tony and obligation to the team, but Tony shook his head and jerked a thumb in the direction of the bathroom. Chin frowned but nodded and Tony hobbled down the hall in the direction of the bathroom, determinedly not looking back in Chin’s direction to see if he was watching because that would just tip him off.

When he turned the corner, Tony took a moment to catch his breath against the pain slicing up his leg. It wouldn’t do for Talbot to see him in a state of weakness. After a moment, he continued on towards the cells.

Talbot looked up at the sound of his uneven gait and Tony was pleased to see he looked a little harassed.

“Come for round two?” Talbot asked with a smirk. Tony shot him a fake surprised look.

“Because round one went so well for you,” Tony said, looking around pointedly at the cell Talbot was in. 

“Seems like you didn’t come out of it so well yourself,” Talbot said, glancing at Tony’s crutch. Tony’s smile was feral in reply.

“I’ll be healed in a few weeks. Where do you think you’ll be by then?”

Talbot snarled and folded his arms, unable to do anything to Tony with the bars between them. 

“What do you want?” Talbot demanded instead. Tony could see most of it was a front though and wondered what Steve and Gibbs had done to him. 

“How about I tell you a story,” Tony began. Talbot made an irritated noise and turned away from him. “My father’s a conman. He used to be good at it. Very good. So good, in fact, that everyone thought he was a businessman, not a criminal. That meant he had to be very good at keeping his books.”

“Sounds like you’re in the wrong line of work,” Talbot said, turning, it seemed, despite himself.

“Yeah well, he wanted me to follow in his footsteps. Taught me all he knew about business,” Tony said. “I got very good at following the money.”

“It’s always about the money.”

For a moment, Tony and Talbot were in agreement but Tony was used to sympathising with the bad guys and making them sympathise with him. It was the core of undercover work.

“So here’s what I know,” Tony told him. “Archer’s just the tip of the iceberg. He gets ‘merchandise’ into the country, but before that and after that there’s a whole network.”

“You know so much, what do you need me for?” Talbot challenged.

“Because you’re going to put names and faces to all the business fronts and you’re going to do it with a smile,” Tony told him. “If you don’t, Gibbs and McGarrett might threaten your life, but you know they probably won’t go through with it.” He shrugged then, because it always seemed to be a toss-up as to whether they would actually go through with their threats. 

Talbot stared at him evenly, but that was when Tony became sure that that was exactly what Steve and Gibbs had done. He couldn’t exactly say he was sorry. 

“If you survive Archer, in or out of prison, how easy do you think your life will be without any of your resources? And a guy like you, I bet you’ve been skimming for years. I can hit you where it really hurts; it’s always about the money,” Tony told him. 

Talbot glared but Tony didn’t waver. He thought about Katie, about all the dead kids he’d seen because of guns or drugs, and had no care for how Talbot felt about all this beyond getting him to give them all the information they needed to bring down the entire network.

“It’s always about the money,” Talbot echoed, losing all his fight. “You play dirty for a cop.”

“Not a cop,” Tony said, not sure if he was glad or not about that. He turned to limp from the holding area.

“A guy like you doesn’t stop being one.”

-

Steve walked into the Five-0 offices and nodded briefly at Chin and McGee who greeted him back. He went immediately to the break room and felt his heart stop when Tony wasn’t there. The uneven sound of Tony’s steps made him turn to see Tony coming from down the corridor. 

When Tony saw him he hesitated a moment and looked a little guilty, so Steve knew it hadn’t just been a trip to the bathroom. Tony wasn’t stupid though and the risks to took were usually calculated, though he tended to use a different set of calculations to most everyone else, like Steve did. 

“Something you want to tell me?” Steve asked casually. Tony smiled and limped up to him.

“I don’t know,” Tony said, expression full of amused challenge. “Is there?”

“Danny and Gibbs are wrapping up at the warehouse. Gibbs found documents tying Archer to everything,” Steve said instead. 

“The size of this thing,” Tony said, “it’s bigger than Archer and Talbot. It’s going to need NCIS and the FBI, probably Interpol.”

“That’s a little beyond our scope,” Steve told him with a smile. “But maybe Gibbs could use the work.”

“It’s not like he’s got anything better to do.”

“And we do?”

“Well, we do owe the team a steak dinner,” Tony said with a smile. Steve pulled him close and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist.

-

Kono glanced sidelong at David while the other woman stared straight ahead.

“You do not like me,” Ziva said finally, challengingly. Kono turned to look at Ziva properly.

“No,” Kono said, not bothering to pull her punches. She didn’t feel the need to spare Ziva’s feelings and, from what she’d seen of the woman, Ziva wouldn’t care for it either. “I do like Tony.”

“We have resolved our issues,” Ziva said stiffly.

“With him, maybe,” Kono told her. “But not with us.”

“I was not aware we had issues.”

“That right.”

“It was Tony to whom we needed to apologise.”

“Yeah, well, hurt Tony and we feel it, too,” Kono told her, determinedly watching for Archer and not looking at Ziva now.

“That is good,” Ziva told her softly. “It’s what he needs.”

“Yeah,” Kono agreed, feeling like she might finally have reached some sort of compromise with the other woman. Besides, Tony would be disappointed in her for fighting battles he’d put to rest. And they all hated to disappoint Tony because he acted like it didn’t matter, like he didn’t matter, and that just wasn’t right. “There’s Archer,” she said, already climbing out the car. 

“Looks like he’s running,” Ziva said and it was then Kono saw the duffle bag Archer was carrying. 

“Well, we can’t have that, can we,” Kono said and they grinned at each other as they jogged across the street, catching Archer before he entered his chauffeur-driven car. Ziva stood in front of Archer, blocking his way to the door, while Kono came up behind him.

“Going somewhere?” Ziva asked. Archer narrowed his eyes.

“Something I can do for you, miss...” he asked.

“Special Agent Ziva David,” Ziva told him, flipping open her identification in the way Tony had shown her one day in between movie references and jokes about her dexterity. “And Detective Kono Kalakaua.”

“We have some questions for you,” Kono said.

“I’m very busy,” Archer said coolly. 

“Then you’ll appreciate the break,” Kono told him.

“You’re in over your heads, little girls.”

“We’re not the ones about to lose everything,” Ziva said, nodding to Kono who pulled out her cuffs. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you?”

“I want my lawyer,” Archer said as Kono wrapped the cuffs around his wrists.


	11. Chapter 11

“DiNozzo,” Gibbs barked and Tony turned, a little awkward on his crutches. Tony raised his eyebrows in question, defiance glittering in his eyes. “You did good. The case... your life here. You did good.”

“Thanks Gibbs,” Tony said, some of the defensiveness leaving him. Gibbs figured it would never be completely gone and he could only blame himself for that, but he was glad they’d cleared the air. “Looks like you’re going to be spending a lot of time with Fornell.”

“I’m sure he’ll survive, somehow.” They shared a brief smile. “I’ll get these guys,” Gibbs told him.

“I know,” Tony said with a troubled frown that he quickly wiped away. Gibbs knew Tony had always had trouble with how far Gibbs was willing to go for a case, especially one involving children, but he was far too old to change now. Maybe if things had been different, if he’d been different, Tony wouldn’t have had to leave, but it was too late for that now.

Gibbs started to turn to leave, but he didn’t want to leave like that.

“I’m glad you get to have this,” he said. Tony looked over at Steve laughing with Danny and smiled faintly, irrepressibly. 

“Me too.”

Gibbs held out his hand and Tony hesitated only a moment before shaking it.

“It was... good working with you again, Gibbs,” Tony said finally, releasing his hand. Gibbs nodded.

“You, too, Tony.”

Gibbs gripped Tony’s shoulder briefly, wanted to say how proud he was, but knew Tony wouldn’t accept that. He just nodded again and retreated, watching McGee and Ziva say their goodbyes. 

Steve settled in next to him, arms folded as he leaned casually against the wall. Gibbs waited, looking ahead, knowing Steve would get around to saying what he wanted to say. 

“You screwed up,” Steve told him. “You screwed him up.”

Gibbs winced, knowing it was true, knowing whatever apologies he made wouldn’t make up for it, not really. Even if Tony forgave him, Gibbs knew he’d never forgive anyone who hurt Tony and that Tony’s new family wouldn’t ever forgive him for the same.

“But you also made him strong in ways he needed,” Steve added.

“Tony’s always been strong.”

Gibbs thought of Tony’s father, of his mother, and knew Tony hadn’t had any choice but to become strong. 

“Not like that.”

Gibbs nodded, not exactly accepting the praise, but accepting the sentiment. Steve reached out to shake his hand. Gibbs could respect this man and was nothing but glad for Tony now, even if he did regret what had driven Tony to McGarrett.

“Take care of him.”

“When he’ll let me,” Steve said, smiling fondly at Tony, who’d set his crutches to one side and was standing unaided.

“Good luck with that,” Gibbs said, smiling too.

-

Tony limped, refusing to use his crutch, as he went from the fridge to the counter. The others would be over soon and he wanted to get most of the preparation done before they arrived and tried to take over. Danny he might trust to help him in the kitchen, but he didn’t want Kono anywhere near dinner.

There was the soft pad of footsteps and then arms wrapped around him and Steve pressed to his back and rested a chin on his shoulder. Tony laughed as the dampness seeped through his clothing along his back.

“You could have dried yourself before coming in,” Tony told him.

“Thought we might take a shower before the others arrived,” Steve said, grinning. Tony leaned back, hands resting over Steve’s, their fingers entwined.

“You did, did you.”

“I had hopes.”

“You don’t have hopes,” Tony told him, laughing. “You have plans.”

“You know what I’m planning now?” Steve asked, pressing a kiss to the skin behind Tony’s ear.

“I think I have a very good idea,” Tony said, turning his head to look at Steve. Steve tightened his grip on Tony.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG, it's actually finished. Hope you all enjoyed it.


End file.
